Toad's Place

The Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. The band was initially a solo project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, who recorded the debut album mostly alone in six days. The band’s lineup includes Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett, keyboardist Rami Jaffee, and drummer Ilan Rubin. Former members include guitarist Franz Stahl and drummers William Goldsmith, Taylor Hawkins, and Josh Freese. Grohl created the band to release solo material after Nirvana disbanded. After the debut album, Mendel and Goldsmith joined the band, with Smear, who had played with Nirvana on tour. The band performed publicly for the first time in February 1995, five months before their debut album’s release. Goldsmith left during the recording of their second album, The Colour and the Shape (1997), with Grohl re-recording most of the drum parts. Smear also departed shortly afterward and was replaced by Hawkins and Stahl, respectively. Stahl had previously been in the band Scream, which Grohl had drummed for before joining Nirvana.