Foo Fighters Inducted Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Foo Fighters were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tonight, earning enshrinement in their first year of eligibility.

“The best thing about being here tonight is being surrounded by our family,” said leader Dave Grohl as he accepted the band’s award. “When I say that, if anybody knows how the Foo Fighters work, the people we work with, we stick with them the last 15, 20, 25 years … and I think that’s important. So there’s a whole extended family over here that I have to thank. I have to thank these people, because we wouldn’t be here tonight if it wasn’t for each one of these Foo Fighters and we did it.”

Before their speeches, the band played a set that included “Best of You,” “My Hero” and “Everlong.” Following the speeches, a brief jam featured Foo Fighters and McCartney covering the Beatles’ “Get Back.”

Founded in 1994, following Kurt Cobain’s death and the ensuing breakup of Nirvana, Foo Fighters saw Grohl embrace a leading-man role for the first time in his career. On the Foo’s self-titled debut album, he wrote every song, sang every note and played every instrument, save for a lone guest appearance from the Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli. Grohl didn’t anticipate launching a prolific second act to his career; his initial Foo Fighters output was more about healing following the loss of a friend than trying to score a hit. But the songs resonated, radio and MTV followed and suddenly Grohl was onto something.

Soon, Foo Fighters would be a full-fledged band. Guitarist Pat Smear and bassist Nate Mendel would join in 1995. Taylor Hawkins would come on board in 1997, replacing original drummer William Goldsmith. The arrival of Chris Shiflett in 1999 cemented the band’s core, while keyboardist Rami Jaffee further augmented the Foos’ sound when he joined in 2017.

In total, Foo Fighters have released 10 studio LPs, winning 12 Grammy awards and selling more than 30 million albums around the world.

With tonight’s event, Grohl, who joined the Hall’s ranks when Nirvana were inducted in 2014, is now one of 26 musicians to be enshrined for a second time. Fellow 2021 inductees Carole King and Tina Turner are also on that list. Stevie Nicks, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Neil Young and all four Beatles are some of the other notable artists to be inducted twice. Eric Clapton remains the only musician to earn induction three times.

The 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will air on Nov. 20 on HBO alongside a radio simulcast on SiriusXM Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio.