99 Fun Facts About Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters took their name from a term Allied pilots used in World War II for what?

Unidentified flying objects: Grohl hoped the name would make people think the record came from a group rather than one man, and later called it the stupidest band name in the world.

How long did Dave Grohl take to record nearly all of the Foo Fighters debut album by himself?

Six days: Grohl booked a Seattle studio for the week in October 1994 and cut about four songs a day, running from the drum kit to the guitar to the bass while still sweating.

Who played the only guest part on Foo Fighters' debut album, on 'X-Static'?

Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs was in the studio watching Grohl record and was handed a guitar for 'X-Static'; every other note and vocal on the album is Grohl's.

What did Dave Grohl call the label he set up to release the Foo Fighters debut through Capitol?

Roswell Records was the company Grohl started so the album could come out on his own terms; he licensed it to Capitol and at first wanted no names or photos on the sleeve.

Foo Fighters' bassist Nate Mendel and first drummer both came from which recently disbanded Seattle group?

Sunny Day Real Estate had just split when Grohl, who had recorded the debut alone and needed a band to play it live, recruited its bassist and its drummer.

Which former Nirvana touring guitarist joined Foo Fighters' original four-piece lineup in 1994?

Pat Smear, Nirvana's second guitarist on its final tours, joined in 1994 and quit in 1997, then drifted back as a touring player before rejoining full-time for Wasting Light.

Where did the Foo Fighters play their first public show, on February 23, 1995?

Arcata, California: the Jambalaya club hosted the first public show on February 23, 1995, days after the band had tried the songs out at a private party for friends.

Foo Fighters' video for 'Big Me' parodied the TV commercials for which candy?

Mentos: the band hawked 'Footos' in a spoof of the 'Freshmaker' ads, and it backfired when fans pelted them with the mints at shows until they dropped the song for a while.

Who produced The Colour and the Shape (1997) and returned for Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace?

Gil Norton, the English producer known for the Pixies, cracked the whip on The Colour and the Shape, and the band spelled 'Colour' the British way as a nod to him.

Which drummer quit after Grohl re-recorded most of The Colour and the Shape's drum tracks himself?

William Goldsmith had tracked the album at Bear Creek Studio near Seattle, but Grohl quietly redid nearly every drum part at Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood; Goldsmith quit in 1997 when he found out.

Whose touring drummer was Taylor Hawkins before he joined Foo Fighters in 1997?

Alanis Morissette: Hawkins was drumming on her Jagged Little Pill tour when Grohl asked if he knew any drummers, and Hawkins put himself forward.

Who directed the surreal, dream-hopping music video for "Everlong"?

Michel Gondry, later the director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, built the clip partly as a parody of The Evil Dead, with Grohl fighting off intruders using a giant hand.

"Everlong" was inspired by Grohl's romance with Louise Post, singer of which band?

Veruca Salt: Post, the Chicago band's co-frontwoman, was dating Grohl in 1996 and sang backing vocals on 'Everlong'; Grohl said the song was about being so connected you harmonize perfectly when singing together.

Grohl's solo acoustic 'Everlong' took off after an impromptu 1998 performance on whose radio show?

Howard Stern: Grohl played 'Everlong' alone on acoustic guitar on Stern's radio show in 1998; the stripped-down arrangement later closed the 2006 live album Skin and Bones and appears on the 2009 Greatest Hits.

Foo Fighters' 1997 replacement guitarist Franz Stahl was Grohl's old bandmate from which D.C. hardcore band?

Scream, the Washington-area hardcore band, took on a teenage Grohl as drummer after he lied about his age; when it fell apart in 1990 he was free to join Nirvana.

Which single became Foo Fighters' first to reach the Billboard Hot 100?

Learn to Fly reached number 19, the first Foo Fighters single on the Hot 100; Grohl wrote it at a time when he really did want to train as a pilot.

In the video for Foo Fighters' 1999 airliner single, which comedy duo play cabin cleaners smuggling sleeping powder?

Tenacious D — Jack Black and Kyle Gass — play the cleaning crew who spike the plane with 'erotic sleeping powder'; the video won the 2001 Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video.

Dave Grohl named his Virginia home studio 'Studio 606' after what, as he finally revealed in 2020?

His father's apartment number: for years Grohl said 606 was just a number he kept seeing, then in 2020 he told how his dad had lectured him there in 1985 about what to do with his life.

Chris Shiflett joined Foo Fighters after There Is Nothing Left to Lose from which California punk band?

No Use for a Name, the Bay Area punk band, lost Shiflett in 1999 when he won the Foos' open auditions; the band had made its third album as a trio and needed a second guitarist.

A 'key man clause' let Foo Fighters leave Capitol Records when which executive was forced out?

Gary Gersh, the Geffen A&R man who had signed Nirvana, ran Capitol when the Foos signed there; a key-man clause tied to him let the band walk when he was ousted in 1998, and they moved to RCA.

Which band did Dave Grohl record and tour with as drummer during the troubled making of One by One?

Queens of the Stone Age: Grohl drummed on their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf while the Foos were in limbo, then returned and re-cut One by One in under two weeks at his home studio near Washington, D.C.

What unusual format did Foo Fighters choose for their 2005 album In Your Honor?

Half rock, half acoustic: Grohl split the double album into one loud disc and one quiet one rather than shuffle the two moods together on a single record.

Norah Jones duets with Grohl on which bossa nova track from In Your Honor?

Virginia Moon: Grohl felt the song needed a female voice, remembered a Norah Jones record and thought 'it's her vibe', though everyone he told said the pairing made no sense.

Which Foo Fighters song did Prince cover during his rain-soaked halftime show at Super Bowl XLI in 2007?

Best of You: Prince played the Foos' 2005 single in the Miami rain, a surprise because he had earlier objected to the band's own cover of his 'Darling Nikki'.

Two members of which band joined Foo Fighters on stage at Wembley Stadium in 2008?

Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones played 'Rock and Roll' with Grohl on drums and Hawkins singing, then the two Foos swapped places for 'Ramble On'.

Where did Foo Fighters record Wasting Light (2011)?

Grohl's garage in Encino: he backed the minivan out, moved the lawnmower, set up the drums and soundproofed the door so the neighbours wouldn't call the police.

Which producer of Nirvana's Nevermind reunited with Dave Grohl to make Foo Fighters' Wasting Light?

Butch Vig had first come back to produce the two new songs on the band's 2009 Greatest Hits, which is how the reunion for Wasting Light began.

What technical rule did Foo Fighters impose on the recording of Wasting Light?

All analog, no computers: the band tracked to tape with no digital safety net, then cut up the master tape and tucked a piece into the first CD copies of the album.

Which former Nirvana bandmate of Grohl's guests on Wasting Light's 'I Should Have Known'?

Krist Novoselic plays bass and accordion on 'I Should Have Known', reuniting the Nirvana rhythm section on the first Foo Fighters album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200.

Foo Fighters' video for 'Walk' is an homage to which 1993 film?

Falling Down, the 1993 Michael Douglas film, is restaged scene by scene: Grohl abandons his car in an L.A. traffic jam and melts down in a fast-food joint; the video won Best Rock Video at the 2011 MTV VMAs.

Which network aired the Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways series, about recording eight songs in eight cities?

HBO aired the eight-part series in autumn 2014 with Grohl directing; in each city he interviewed local musicians, and the band worked what they learned into that city's song.

The Foo Fighters were the final musical guests on whose last late-night show, in May 2015?

David Letterman had called them 'my favorite band, playing my favorite song' in 2000, when 'Everlong' marked his return from heart surgery; in 2015 they played it over his farewell montage.

In which city did Grohl break his leg falling off stage in June 2015, finishing the show from a chair?

Gothenburg, Sweden: Grohl fell two songs into the Ullevi stadium show, came back with a medic holding his bandaged leg in place, and played later shows that summer from a custom-built throne.

In which country did 1,000 musicians play one Foo Fighters song together in 2015?

Italy: the Rockin' 1000 gathered a thousand players in Cesena in July 2015 to perform one of the band's hits as a plea for a visit; the video went viral and the band played the town that November.

Which pop producer, known for Adele's 'Hello', made Foo Fighters' Concrete and Gold (2017)?

Greg Kurstin caught Grohl's ear through his indie-pop duo the Bird and the Bee, before Grohl knew he had become a hit-making producer; he stayed on for the next two Foo Fighters albums.

Which rock legend guests on drums on the Concrete and Gold track "Sunday Rain"?

Paul McCartney had not even heard 'Sunday Rain' when he sat down at the kit: Grohl showed him the song on an acoustic guitar and he nailed the drum part in two takes.

Which pop star, whom Grohl teased as probably the biggest in the world, sang backing vocals on Concrete and Gold?

Justin Timberlake sings on 'Make It Right'; like Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman, who is on the title track, he happened to be working at the same Hollywood studio.

For Record Store Day 2021 Foo Fighters released Hail Satin under a punning alias, covering which group?

The Bee Gees: after covering 'You Should Be Dancing' for a BBC radio session, the band liked it enough to cut a whole side of Gibb songs as the Dee Gees, with Hawkins singing Andy Gibb's 'Shadow Dancing'.

In Studio 666, what happens to Dave Grohl while Foo Fighters record in a haunted mansion?

Possessed, he murders the band: a demon in the mansion takes Grohl over and he picks off his bandmates one by one, in a story that grew out of the band's own stay in the Encino house where it made Medicine at Midnight.

Taylor Hawkins died on March 25, 2022 in a hotel in which city?

Bogotá, Colombia: Hawkins, 50, was found dead in his hotel room hours before the band was to headline the Estéreo Picnic festival; the festival stage became a candlelight vigil that night.

At the Wembley tribute concert for Taylor Hawkins, his 16-year-old son Shane played drums on which song?

My Hero: Shane Hawkins, 16, took his father's seat for the song at Wembley Stadium on September 3, 2022, and the performance later won him a Drum Performance of the Year award.

After Taylor Hawkins's death, Dave Grohl played all the drums himself on which Foo Fighters album?

But Here We Are: Grohl drummed on every track, as he had on the 1995 debut; the 2023 album is dedicated to Hawkins and to Grohl's mother Virginia, who died the same year as him.

After Josh Freese was let go in 2025, which drummer took over the Foo Fighters drum stool?

Ilan Rubin, long Nine Inch Nails' drummer, debuted with the Foos at a 900-seat theater in San Luis Obispo in September 2025, where Grohl told the crowd the job was his.

Virginia-raised Dave Grohl was born in which state?

Ohio: Grohl was born in Warren, and in 2009 the city renamed a downtown alley after him; he came back for the ceremony and was handed the key to the city.

What is the name of the supergroup in which Grohl drums alongside Josh Homme and John Paul Jones?

Them Crooked Vultures began at Grohl's birthday party, a jousting dinner at Medieval Times where Homme and Jones got talking; the three went on to write an album together.

Grohl's 2013 documentary debut was about which recording studio, where Nevermind was made?

Sound City, the Van Nuys studio where Nevermind was tracked in 1991, closed as a commercial room in 2011; Grohl bought its Neve 8028 console for his own studio and made the 2013 film about it.

A future Foo Fighters guitarist co-founded which LA punk band with Darby Crash in 1976?

The Germs: the guitarist, born Georg Ruthenberg, formed the band with Crash in Los Angeles in 1976; its original drummer 'Dottie Danger' was Belinda Carlisle, later of the Go-Go's, who never played a show with them.

Which song did Grohl and Hawkins perform with Queen at Queen's 2001 Rock Hall induction?

Tie Your Mother Down: Grohl and Hawkins gave the induction speech, then joined Brian May and Roger Taylor for the song, with Hawkins drumming beside Taylor; May had already played on the Foos' cover of 'Have a Cigar'.

Keyboardist Rami Jaffee, later a full Foo Fighters member, played for years in which band first?

The Wallflowers: Jaffee was the keyboardist in Jakob Dylan's band, guested on In Your Honor in 2005 and then toured with the Foos for over a decade before being named a full member.

After Nirvana ended, Grohl nearly became the drummer for which established band?

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Grohl drummed for them on Saturday Night Live in 1994 and was offered the job, but said going back to the drums felt too much like being in Nirvana.

Which cassette of solo demos did Dave Grohl release in 1992 while still Nirvana's drummer?

Pocketwatch came out under the alias Late! because Grohl was nervous about people hearing him sing; its song 'Marigold' later became a Nirvana B-side and a Foo Fighters live track.

What is the title of Grohl's 2021 memoir?

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music came out in October 2021 and went straight to number one on the US hardcover non-fiction chart; Grohl also took it on stage as a show of stories and songs.

Which single topped Billboard's Modern Rock chart for a then-record 18 weeks in 2007?

The Pretender, the lead single from Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, held number one on the Modern Rock chart for 18 weeks in 2007 and won Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2008 Grammys; the album took Best Rock Album.

Foo Fighters' 2005 co-headlining arena tour with which band was billed under a mash-up of the two names?

Weezer: the double bill was sold as the Foozer tour and ran through September and October 2005, the first joint headlining tour the Foo Fighters had done.

Which metal legend joined Foo Fighters at Hyde Park in 2006 to sing the Probot song 'Shake Your Blood'?

Lemmy had written the words to 'Shake Your Blood' for Grohl's 2004 Probot metal project, and sang it at Hyde Park on June 17, 2006, a night when Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor also walked on.

Whose 2004 presidential run did Grohl back after Bush rallies used 'Times Like These'?

John Kerry: after hearing 'Times Like These' at George W. Bush rallies, Grohl reasoned he couldn't stop a president using his songs, so he played acoustic sets at Kerry campaign events in the 2004 race instead.

Under what alias did the Foo Fighters play three small UK club shows in September 2014?

The Holy Shits was the billing for three secret club shows announced on Twitter a day ahead, with tickets gone in about two minutes; they were warm-ups for the Invictus Games closing concert.

What was the name of the metal record of Studio 666 songs that Grohl released in March 2022?

Dream Widow is the fictional metal band whose cursed recordings drive the film; Grohl sang and played drums, bass and guitar on the record, which came out on March 25, 2022, the day Taylor Hawkins died.

Which award, new to the VMAs in 2021, did Foo Fighters become the first act to receive there?

Global Icon Award: MTV had given it at its European awards since 2010, but the 2021 VMAs were the first to present it, weeks before the band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility.

Which actress plays the doomed drummer in the opening scene of Foo Fighters' horror comedy Studio 666?

Jenna Ortega, months before Netflix's Wednesday made her a star, plays the film's opening-scene victim; Will Forte, Whitney Cummings and Jeff Garlin also appear in the Open Road Films release.

At which national event did Foo Fighters perform 'Times Like These' in 2021?

Joe Biden's inauguration: the band never went to Washington for it, taping the song at its own Los Angeles studio for the televised 'Celebrating America' special that aired that evening.

How did Dave Grohl's 2015 Muppets drum battle with Animal end?

Both conceded: after trading fills, Grohl and Animal gasped 'You win' at the same moment; Grohl had already played the copycat drummer 'Animool' in the 2011 Muppets film.

In the 2017 video for 'Run', Foo Fighters appear as what?

Elderly residents of a nursing home: the band, in heavy old-age makeup, rise up against the staff in the 2017 clip Grohl directed; the song won Best Rock Song at the 2018 Grammys.

In June 2023 Foo Fighters made a surprise appearance at which English festival?

Glastonbury: billed only as 'The ChurnUps', the band played the Pyramid Stage on June 23, 2023, their first time at the festival since headlining it in 2017 and three weeks after But Here We Are came out.

How did Foo Fighters greet Westboro Baptist Church picketers outside a 2015 Kansas City show?

They rickrolled them: in August 2015 the band rolled past the Kansas City picket in a truck blasting Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up'; in 2011 they had answered the same protesters with a parody song in trucker outfits.

Foo Fighters' Wasting Light single 'Walk' appeared in which 2011 superhero film?

Thor: 'Walk' features in Kenneth Branagh's 2011 film, and that summer it knocked 'Rope', the same album's first single, off the top of Billboard's Rock Songs chart.

A ten-year-old fan Grohl pulled on stage in 2018 played songs by which band on his guitar?

Metallica: ten-year-old Collier Cash Rule played 'Enter Sandman' with the band in Kansas City in October 2018; Grohl sang along and then told him to keep the guitar.

What twist ends Foo Fighters' performance video for 'All My Life'?

'The arena turns out to be empty' is the reveal: the band tears through the song on a lit stage and the final wide shot shows no crowd at all; Grohl directed it as a straight performance clip.

'Friend of a Friend' was written about Grohl sharing an apartment in 1990 with whom?

Kurt Cobain: Grohl moved into Cobain's cramped Olympia apartment after joining Nirvana in 1990 and wrote the song there, the first he ever wrote on acoustic guitar; In Your Honor revived it in 2005.

Grohl's Hanukkah Sessions, begun in 2020 with his producer, released what each night?

A cover of a song by a Jewish artist went out on each of the eight nights, beginning with the Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage'; Grohl drummed while his producer played keyboards in his home studio.

Foo Fighters re-recorded 'Walking After You' as a single for which 1998 TV-to-film soundtrack?

The X-Files: the 1998 movie soundtrack got a new full-band version, while the original on The Colour and the Shape was Grohl alone, cut in Washington, D.C. over a 1996 holiday break amid the breakup of his first marriage.

Which electronic producer remixed 'Rope' and played it with Foo Fighters at the 2012 Grammys?

Deadmau5 reworked 'Rope' and played his mix with the band at the 2012 Grammys, on the very night it lost the Best Remixed Recording award to a Skrillex remix.

Foo Fighters' free 2015 EP Saint Cecilia was recorded at a hotel of that name in which city?

Austin: the band cut the EP's free songs at the Hotel Saint Cecilia during a 2015 stop in the city; Cecilia is the patron saint of music, and the EP dropped the day after her November 22 feast day.

Which band tried to poach Hawkins in 2000 before Roger Taylor talked him out of leaving?

Guns N' Roses: around 2000 Hawkins was sounded out for their drum stool, but Queen's Roger Taylor, his friend and mentor, urged him to stay; the drummer he would have replaced, Josh Freese, filled Hawkins's seat from 2023 to 2025.

What is pictured on the cover of Foo Fighters' There Is Nothing Left to Lose?

A tattoo on Grohl's neck, the band's 'FF' logo, fills the 1999 cover; early pressings of the CD came with a temporary tattoo of the same design.

At which 2002 festival did Foo Fighters play what Grohl feared could be their final show?

Coachella: in April 2002, with the One by One sessions scrapped and rehearsals ending in fights, Grohl thought the desert festival set might be the band's last; enjoying it persuaded them to regroup and re-record the album.

Foo Fighters played 'Resolve' and 'Miracle' in the Election Day episodes of which TV drama?

The West Wing: the band play themselves at Matt Santos's election-night party in the 2006 two-parter; Grohl's weeks on a real presidential campaign trail in 2004 had shaped much of In Your Honor.

Foo Fighters won two prizes at the 2008 Brit Awards: International Album and which other?

International Group: the Foos won it alongside the album prize for Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, a record whose lyrics Grohl traced to how his daughter's birth had changed his outlook.

The Colour and the Shape was named for a tour manager's remark on which thrift-store buy?

A striped bowling pin: the tour manager spent his afternoons in thrift stores, and when he said he liked 'the colour and the shape' of his red-and-white find, the band adopted the phrase as an in-joke.

At which Seattle-area studio did Grohl record the Foo Fighters debut on his own in October 1994?

Robert Lang Studios, in Shoreline just north of Seattle, hosted the session; Grohl laid down drums, guitar, bass and vocals for each song in well under an hour, one instrument at a time.

Who premiered two songs from Grohl's 1994 demo tape on his Self-Pollution radio broadcast?

Eddie Vedder played 'Exhausted' on his pirate-style Self-Pollution Radio broadcast in January 1995; Grohl had made only about 100 cassettes for friends, and the airplay set record labels calling.

Taylor Hawkins grew up in Laguna Beach, California, but in which state was he born?

Texas: Hawkins was born in Fort Worth and moved to Laguna Beach as a small child; seeing Queen play when he was ten made him want to be in a huge rock band.

A 2016 spoof video 'replaced' Grohl as singer with which former boy-band member?

Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees was unveiled as the new frontman in the March 2016 clip, which had Grohl quitting to make electronic music and ended with the line 'For the millionth time, we're not breaking up.'

Foo Fighters' In Your Honor debuted at number two in both the US and UK behind which 2005 album?

Coldplay's X&Y kept In Your Honor off the top in both countries: the Foos sold 311,000 US copies, their best week ever, yet X&Y managed 323,000 in its second week.

Foo Fighters' first major tour, in spring 1995, was as opening act for which punk bassist?

Mike Watt, the former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist, took the Foos out as openers on the tour for his 1995 solo album, and Grohl pulled double duty by playing in Watt's backing band each night.

Grohl compared the upbeat sound of Medicine at Midnight to which David Bowie album?

Let's Dance: Grohl said he wanted the 2021 album to be the Foos' party record, the way Bowie's 1983 smash was his, and it leans on drum loops and groove-first arrangements.

Which Medicine at Midnight single won Best Rock Song at the 2022 Grammys?

Waiting on a War grew out of a school-run question from Grohl's daughter about whether war was coming; it was one of three Grammys the band won nine days after Taylor Hawkins died.

Which single is track two on The Colour and the Shape?

Monkey Wrench crashes in right after 'Doll', a hushed ballad of under 90 seconds about being afraid to enter into something you're not prepared for.

Alison Mosshart, who sings on 'The Sky Is a Neighborhood', fronts which band?

The Kills, her duo with Jamie Hince, opened for the Foos on a European date in June 2017, the year she sang on two Concrete and Gold tracks, one of them alongside smooth-jazz saxophonist Dave Koz.

Which fingerstyle guitarist guests on Foo Fighters' 'Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners'?

Kaki King trades acoustic lines with Grohl on the instrumental, written after a miner trapped in Tasmania's 2006 Beaconsfield collapse asked for an iPod loaded with the band's In Your Honor.

Which song was the first single from Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways?

Something from Nothing was cut at Steve Albini's Chicago studio with Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen on guitar; as with every song on the album, the band wrote it from what Grohl's interviews in that city turned up.

Whose album Council Skies did Foo Fighters' But Here We Are beat to UK number one in 2023?

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds released Council Skies the same day, June 2, 2023, and after a week-long chart race the Foos edged it to number one with 44,500 sales.

Which artist famed for Black Flag's imagery drew the cover of Foo Fighters' One by One?

Raymond Pettibon, whose ink drawings defined Black Flag's flyers and sleeves, got the job after Grohl visited his house and decided the band had to pay tribute to a hero; the heart theme was Grohl's idea.

Before its 2005 single release, Foo Fighters' 'DOA' debuted in what unusual form?

A Cingular ringtone: the wireless carrier offered 'DOA' as a download before the song went to radio in 2005; like the album's lead single before it, it went on to top Billboard's Modern Rock chart.

Which Wasting Light song has lyrics Grohl says he wrote in two minutes and still doesn't know?

White Limo: Grohl admitted he dashed the lyrics off in two minutes and can't recite them, yet the shrieked punk blast won the 2012 Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance.

Which punk hero of Dave Grohl's duets with him on Foo Fighters' 'Dear Rosemary'?

Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü sings and plays guitar on the track; Grohl calls the band perhaps his biggest influence as a guitarist and songwriter, and said everyone was star-struck when Mould walked in.

Which song was the only survivor from One by One's scrapped million-dollar first sessions?

Tired of You, with Queen's Brian May on guitar, was carried over from the scrapped sessions; everything else was redone in under two weeks at Grohl's basement studio outside Washington, D.C.

Foo Fighters' 'Enough Space' was inspired by which early-1990s Johnny Depp film?

Arizona Dream, Emir Kusturica's 1993 film with Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway, was one of Grohl's favourites, though when he explained the song he misremembered the title as 'Arizona Dreaming'.

On which In Your Honor song does Taylor Hawkins sing lead while Dave Grohl plays the drums?

Cold Day in the Sun was written by Hawkins, who sings it and plays tambourine while Grohl goes back behind the drum kit; Hawkins had been carrying the tune around since 2001.