Do the Foo Fighters Get Along?

Written by Jeff Campbell in Alternative Rock,Band Members Last Updated November 17, 2022

Foo Fighters are successful in terms of wealth and record sales, but like many of their peers, the band has had plenty of internal drama over the years. So, do the foo fighters get along?

Here is what I know from following them for years:

The members of Foo Fighters do get along and have ever since the lineup was solidified in 2010 with the full-time return of Pat Smear to the band.

There are no short-lived solo projects, no blank spots, and their tenth album Midnight Medicine has become the most upbeat album of 2021.

But Foo Fighters’ journey wasn’t always this smooth.

The road to success for Foo Fighters has been full of clashes and make-ups. Starting as a one-man project by Dave Grohl and with frequent lineup changes along the way, the band came quite close to the brink of collapsing.

The first recruits, like drummer William and guitarist Pat, found themselves caught in Dave’s rage due to their inability to produce music the way Dave wanted.

Finally, this battle cost Dave two valuable artists. But his desire to live the music kept him going to find solutions that could keep the group from tethering apart.

Let’s dig deeper and find out how well the band goes along:

How many former members have left The Foo Fighters?

Foo Fighters have 2 former members, William Goldsmith and Franz Stahl, who left in the late ’90s. Guitarist Pat Smear also left the band at that time but returned part-time in 2005 and has been a full-time member since 2010.

Post-Nirvana’s dissolution, Dave began assembling members Pat Smear, Nate Mendel, and William Goldsmith to help him record music for his planned album.

But soon, Grohl felt “Goldsmith wasn’t the kind of drummer Foo Fighters needed.” 

Dissatisfied with William’s drumming and keeping it inside him, Grohl began re-recording the drumming parts in secret, which pissed off William and Pat Smear.

William deboarded before the sales took off for their second album, The Colour, and the Shape, emptying the spot for the late Taylor Hawkins.

The next blow came soon when Grohl’s biggest asset Pat announced at the 1997 MTV Music Video Awards that he would leave the band.

To continue their album, Foo Fighters recruited Franz Stahl as a guitarist.

But Franz wasn’t a member for long (he was fired soon), and the group recorded the album There Is Nothing Left To Lose as a threesome just like they began.

Touring till 2000, the Foo Fighters began working on a few following albums, between which the group realized that things were not clicking and went their separate ways for a short time.

Grohl told Billboard’s Andrew Katchen:

“It only made sense that after seven or eight years, we do that—to step back and look at the big picture, especially when you’re lost in the process of making a new album that seems like it’s going nowhere.”

This pause allowed Grohl, Hawkins, Shiflett, and Mendel to rework the next album’s tracks.

Still, their songs with a new lineup resulted in “unexpected exhilaration,” Grohl told the Entertainment Weekly’s, Ken Tucker.

The band realized that they “couldn’t live without rock ‘n roll,” and before the band’s seventh studio album, Wasting Light, Smear returned as a full member to help the band discover the core of why their music works.

Their ninth album featured the longtime session and touring keyboardist Rami Jaffee as a full member.

In February 2021, the band released their tenth album with a stable lineup, including Chris Shiflett, Taylor Hawkins, Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Rami Jaffee, and Pat Smear.

How do Foo Fighters split royalties?

Foo Fighters split all sales and royalties equally among all band members, including songwriting and performance, concert sales, and merchandise sales.

In a recent interview with LiveXLive meant to promote the Rock in Rio 2019 festival, the band’s late drummer Taylor Hawkins discussed how the band split their money. Taylor said:

“We pretty much split everything equally. It just makes for a harmonious situation, and the most important thing is that we make as good of a record as we can or play as good a show as we can.”

Band daddy Grohl’s decision to split the royalties equally goes back a long way as a solution that bands often retreat to end disputes and the feelings of biases rising due to profit sharing.

In addition, Grohl feels that:

“I gotta split the money with these three monkeys. I like taking care of people. I feel personally responsible for everything – the band, the crew.”

Is Dave Grohl hard the nicest guy in rock?

Dave Grohl is genuinely one of the nicest rock stars whose actions include singing songs for the medic who treated his broken leg, cooking barbecues at food banks, settling feuds in live gigs, paying huge tips to bar staff, and gifting his shoes to fans.

Dave has earned the label for being the nicest guy in rock due to his benevolent deeds.

His numerous charitable acts and feeling the responsibility to “look at music as a community” have earned him the title.

Dave Grohl says:

“I’ve always been the person at the party that tries to bring people together. Y’know, I’m kinda looking forward to when I can become a father figure.”

Planetradio.Co.Uk gives fans 17 reasons to fall in love with the undisputed nicest guy in rock, Dave Grohl, noting that:

“Dave is a genuine artist by heart, and his kind-heartedness is like the icing on the cake. There would be few fans who have not experienced his groundedness and have helped many fans.”

Were Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins best friends?

Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins were best friends, making Hawkins’ passing in 2022 devastating for Grohl. Grohl and Hawkins’ bond started over a drinking game, and Dave knew instantly they would be best friends for the rest of their lives.

Taylor, who always wanted to play rock, met Dave Grohl during a radio show for the first time and wished to play in Foo Fighters, although they already had a drummer.

After the show, Foo Fighters parted their ways with the drumming, emptying the spot for Taylor. 

Taylor joined, and Grohl bonded over a drinking game at Taylor’s house. Grohl doesn’t shy away from expressing his biased love for Taylor. He says, “Taylor’s my best friend.”

Sadly, Hawkins apparently succumbed to a deadly combination of prescription and illegal drugs in March of 2022 just prior to playing a show in Bogotá, Colombia, at the Festival Estéreo Picnic.

Do Pat Smear and Dave Grohl get along?

After 25 years of their Foo Fighters journey, Pat and Dave describe their relationship to be like the grandparents when they get too old to get divorced. 

Pat, of course, had been in Nirvana with Dave prior to the birth of Foo Fighters.

Pat Smear was intrigued to hear Dave’s drumming skills when he first met him and when Grohl realized that he needed a band to play those songs, Smear, Goldsmith, Mendel soon climbed the team.

Smear says:

“Dave didn’t have to ask me to join the band. I asked him! After I heard the tape, I went to him and asked if he would make a band because I wanted to.”

source

Foo Fighters released their 10th album, Medicine At Midnight, 26 years after the self-titled debut.

Smear is still in the band, going on and off-board from 1997 to 2005 and finally becoming a full-time guitarist in the band again.

Pat Smear continues to get along with Dave Grohl to this day.

Dave Grohl: confessions of a Foo Fighting man | British GQ

Conclusion

The Foo Fighters may have started as a one-man project, but Grohl’s dedication and passion for rock gave the music lovers the gift of Foo Fighters.

Though along the journey, the band experienced a little drama with members like William Goldsmith, Franz Stahl, and Pat Smear exiting the group.

The group was able to keep it together and had never let their differences come in producing music. Their stable lineup is the best example of how well they get along.

Photo which requires attribution:

Foo Fighters Live 21 by Jo is licensed under CC2.0 and was cropped, edited, and had a text overlay added

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