It’s been a rough few years for Foo Fighters, with the death of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022, the recent departure of his replacement, Josh Freese, and founder Dave Grohl’s family issues. But the band is back with a new song that is not only a tribute to their departed bandmembers but is also described as the “opening salvo of its next chapter.” It also celebrates the 30th anniversary of the band’s 1995 debut (which was performed almost entirely by Grohl, but it’s still the band’s debut).
The song, which is the first new music from the band since 2023’s “But Here We Are” album,” opens quietly with Grohl singing over gently guitar chords, “I woke today, screaming for change.” It soon opens up into one of the band’s familiar anthems, with lyrics about optimism and overcoming adversity, a roaring chorus and power chords. While the band has not named a new drummer, it’s safe to assume that Grohl, one of the greatest drummers in rock history, took on the task himself.
While the lyrics to the song don’t seem to address the band’s recent challenges directly, Grohl certainly did in a social media post.
“Over the years, we’ve had moments of unbridled joy, and moments of devastating heartbreak. Moments of beautiful victory, and moments of painful defeat,” he wrote. “We have mended broken bones and broken hearts. But we have followed this road together, with each other, for each other, no matter what. Because in life, you just can’t go it alone.
“It should go without saying that without the boundless energy of William Goldsmith, the seasoned wisdom of Franz Stahl, and the thunderous wizardry of Josh Freese, this story would be incomplete, so we extend our heartfelt gratitude for the time, music, and memories that we shared with each of them over the years. Thank you, gentlemen.
“And… Taylor. Your name is spoken every day, sometimes with tears, sometimes with a smile, but you are still in everything we do, everywhere we go, forever. The enormity of your beautiful soul is only rivaled by the infinite longing we feel in your absence. We all miss you beyond words. Foo Fighters will forever include Taylor Hawkins in every note that we play, until we do finally reach our destination.”
In the press release, the bandmembers are listed as Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee — and presumably a new drummer will be announced before the group’s overseas tour dates this fall, which are listed below.
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Oct 2 – Jakarta, ID – Carnaval Ancol
Oct 4 – Singapore, SG – F1
Oct 7 – Tokyo, JP – Saitama Super Arena
Oct 10 – Osaka, JP – Glion Arena Kobe
Nov 14 – Mexico City, MX – Corona Capital
From Variety US