Fans of the popular band Foo Fighters, fronted by Nirvana’s Dave Grohl, are only just realising the out of this world name origins.
Foo Fighters, which made hits like Everlong, The Pretender, and My Hero, got its start as a one man project. Grohl founded the band in 1994, shortly after the end of Nirvana’s break-up in ther same year.
Grohl went on to make Foo Fighters’ self-titled debut album in around six days, playing most of the instruments in his solo project. In February 1995, the band played its first show, and the rest is history.
But some may not know the origins behind the name, which Grohl has since shared is connected to the cover of the group’s first album.
Many of the songs which appeared on Foo Fighters’ records were written by Grohl during his time in Nirvana, who was too “in awe” of the late Kurt Cobain’s songwriting. Nirvana’s break-up occurred in 1994 after the frontman’s death.
Cobain’s death led to the formation of Foo Fighters, which initially served as a group name which Grohl could release solo material under.
Around the time of recording the self-titled album, Grohl says he drew influence from out of this world sources, though he is no longer a fan of the name for his group.
He said: “Around the time that I recorded the first FF tape (that became the first record), I was reading a lot of books on UFOs. Not only is it a fascinating subject, but there’s a treasure trove of band names in those UFO books.
“So, since I had recorded the first record by myself, playing all the instruments, but I wanted people to think that it was a group, I figured that FOO FIGHTERS (WW2 term for UFOs) might lead people to believe that it was more than just one guy. Silly, huh?”
Though the name is now legendary in rock history, Grohl is not that big a fan of his selection. He added that, had he been given the chance, he would have “called it something else”.
He added: “Had I actually considered this to be a career, I probably would have called it something else, because it’s the stupidest f**king band name in the world.”
Despite the naming woes from Grohl, fans are thrilled by the choice. In a post to the r/FooFighters subreddit, one fan wrote: “Dave’s a huge nerd and definitely named the band after Foo Fighters. He was even in an episode of The X-Files (kinda… he is a background character that walks by in a scene).”
It is believed Grohl named the band Foo Fighters to escape attention and trick listeners into believing the debut album was a group already, rather than just a Grohl solo project.
Foo Fighters may not have happened at all, either, with Grohl linked with other bands Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, the latter of which he very nearly joined.
He said: “I was supposed to just join another band and be a drummer the rest of my life. I thought that I would rather do what no one expected me to do.”