Rock band Foo Fighters won five Grammy Awards in occasion of the 54th edition of the music event, being second only to Adele, who won six, in number of awards. The band got awards for Best Rock Album with their ‘Wasting Light,’ Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance with ‘Walk,’ Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for ‘White Limo’ and Best Long Form Music Video with their documentary ‘Back and Forth.’
Foo Fighters were further nominated for Best Album; the award was instead assigned to Adele’s record ’21.’

The success of Foo Fighters was preceded by an incredible year. In April 2011 the band released the album ‘Wasting Light,’ produced by infamous Butch Vig, which debuted as number one in the Billboard 200 chart, selling 235,000 copies only during the first week. After the release of the album, the band toured the world during the whole second half of 2011, and is about to start the second leg of the tour. Furthermore Dave Grohl recently announced that Foo Fighters will be back soon to record their 12th album.

Foo Fighters performed at the 54th 2012 Grammy Awards show bringing on stage their pure rock soul. Their first performance was introduced by a thrilled Jack Black – comedian, actor and musician – who defined the outdoor stage as ‘the place to be,’ because of the raw Foo Fighters’ energy. The band showed up on stage with the excited eyes of the winners.

A jumping crowd enjoyed the band’s performance of the hit ‘Walk;’ a Dave Grohl wearing a Slayer t-shirt seemed particularly energetic, giving a passionate performance while cheering on the crowd. At the end of the performance the frontman clapped the audience, showing once again the sense of gratitude towards fans that has always characterized Foo Fighters.

When later awarded for Best Rock Performance for ‘Walk,’ frontman Dave Grohl expressed the band’s feeling of honor for being a part of the event and defined ‘Wasting Light’ to be a very special album for them. He explained that rather than go to an expensive studio and use fancy computers to create the record, they recorded the mentioned album in Dave Grohl’s garage, using only ‘some microphones and a tape machine.’ He thanked producer Butch Vig, who joined them on stage, and who was defined by Grohl as ‘the best producer in the world.’

The frontman then thanked a number of people involved in the creation of the record, right before stating that the success the band is having with their recent record ‘Shows that the human element of making music is what’s most important. Singing into a microphone, and learning to play an instrument […] that’s the most important thing for people to do. It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct; It’s not about what goes on in a computer, it’s about what goes on in here [pointing to the hearth] and what goes on in here [pointing to the mind].’ Then Dave Grohl screamed in front of a standing ovation ‘Long live rock ‘n’ roll!’ while producers tried to play him off the stage.

Later in the evening Foo Fighters also performed together with Deadmau5. The beginning of performance saw Foo Fighters playing their single ‘Rope’ with a later introduction of the electronic beats of Deadmau5 at a certain point of the track. Deadmau5 then finished the performance alone, with Dave Grohl enjoying it together with the crowd.

On the day preceding the February 12 show, Foo Fighters talked about their music stating that, with their ‘Wasting Light,’ they already won in their own hearts. Dave Grohl then ironically added ‘f–k the heart, I want the Grammy.’ With five Grammy Awards, it seems that Foo Fighters frontman’s desires have been pleased.

Image Courtesy of  Foo Fighters

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Foo Fighters is one of the most popular Rock bands in the music scene since years, being active since 1994. The band is led by Dave Grohl (ex Nirvana drummer), and composed of Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, and Pat Smear.

Although Foo Fighters’ success is not new, what this band accomplished this year is unbelievable. Their 7th studio album “Wasting Light” debuted as number one in the Billboard 200 chart upon its release on April 12 this year, sold 235,000 copies only in its first week, becoming soon a Gold record in the U.S., as well as in other countries. In some others it even became Platinum record. As Dave Grohl declared, although they were big before, mainly in some parts of the world, this album made them huge.

The record comprises other artists’ participations, including the ones of Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) and Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar). The album has been recorded in Grohl’s garage completely analog to tape, and was produced by Butch Vig, the same producer of Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. As Dave Grohl recently declared referring to the producer “Together, we made the album of a lifetime. Again.”

The record sound is raw, powerful, loud, aggressive, sweet, melancholic, and angry, it explores all of the aspects of Rock. It is the heaviest record belonging to the band so far as well as the “grungiest” one. The lyrics come as emotional waterfalls on the perfectly melt sounds. It goes from the screaming hard rock of “White Limo” to the deep and intriguing “I Should Have Known” where Novoselic’s performance gives goosebumps due to its perfection.

Besides the album release, the documentary “Back and Forth,” which explores the development of the band, came out in April; in the same month the band released the limited vinyl “Medium Rare,” a covers album, for Record Store Day. Furthermore this year their video for the track “Walk”, which is a parody of the movie “Falling Down,” won the prize as Best Rock Video at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.

After recording the latest album in Grohl’s garage, the Foo Fighters also started touring in some garages. The band, indeed, performed from New York to Seattle in garages belonging to their fans who participated to a dedicated contest. Moreover the band played secret gigs in small clubs. Then, they started the world tour, touching Europe, North America, South America and Australia. Japan and other countries are coming next year. They played in arenas, festivals, stadiums. In July they played two concerts at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in the U.K to over 140,000 fans. The band just owns it all.

Foo Fighters started in 1994 as a solo project by frontman Dave Grohl, after the death of the late Kurt Cobain and the consequent disappearance of his band Nirvana. What Grohl had for Foo Fighters at the time was only a tape, not even a band. During those seventeen years a lot happened to Foo Fighters. Musicians have come and gone, motivation seemed to be lost for a moment, but what always stayed was Grohl’s determination.

The guy who gained the title of “The nicest guy in Rock,” due to his particularly considerate and respectful personality, seems to be also the toughest guy in Rock, in the best sense of it. He had a dream and did not let anything corrupt it. He did not just try, he did it. Not even when Foo Fighters gained the big scene he let the business corrupt the music. He came back to his garage with a finally solid and sound group which expressed its cooperation in the highest level possible, recording the album on tape where everything sounds just real.

Foo Fighters’ history shows that probably the most remarkable characteristic of Grohl’s personality is his respect to music, and to Rock in particular, beyond any boundary. Let’s not forget this guy, twenty years ago, changed the music scene forever together with two friends of his. Listening to Foo Fighters one can feel the same attitude is still all there in Mr. Grohl.

Image Courtesey of  http://www.facebook.com/foofighters

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