Watch Foo Fighters Cover AC/DC With Hives Singer in Sweden
Foo Fighters played a secret gig in Stockholm, Sweden on the eve of the release of their new LP Concrete and Gold, and to close out the concert, Dave Grohl and company brought out the Hives‘ fiery frontman Pelle Almqvist to cover AC/DC‘s “Let There Be Rock.”
Before bringing out “Howlin’ Pelle,” Grohl talked about his long admiration for the Hives singer, even dressing as Almqvist and covering the Hives’ “Hate to Say I Told You So” at Foo Fighters‘ Halloween 2002 gig in New York.
“So tonight I thought it would be a good idea if we did a song together, one that we’ve never played with him before, but I think it makes perfect sense for this show,” Grohl said as he the intro to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” before tearing into the 1977 AC/DC track, which Foo Fighters have frequently performed live since 2015.
In 2016, when AC/DC’s Brian Johnson announced he had to step away from the band, Almqvist was among the rockers who openly lobbied to be his replacement, Blabbermouth notes.
“I have many, many years of experience rocking the world’s biggest stages and, according to others, I am the greatest frontman in rock, plus judging from the reaction in Australia, your crowd already seems to really like me,” Almqvist wrote on the Hives’ Facebook at the time. “Plus, I have already been singing those songs since I was six years old. So, AC/DC, please consider my application.”