Grohl Bumps Foos for QOTSA
In a quite literal game of musical chairs, singer-guitarist Dave Grohl is putting the Foo Fighters on ice to extend his stint playing drums for Queens of the Stone Age. The former Nirvana sticksman played on the Southern California hard rockers’ upcoming album, Songs for the Deaf, and now he’s bumped back the recording of the in-progress Foo Fighters album to prolong his tenure. The Foo Fighters’ fourth album and follow-up to 1999’s There Is Nothing Left to Lose was to be released this spring/early summer, but it’s now targeted for September.
Grohl’s tenure in QOTSA began rather casually last fall, when the band asked him to play on a few of Deaf‘s tracks. “We were like, ‘Dude, come rock,'” bassist Nick Oliveri told Rolling Stone. Grohl so enjoyed drumming for a fierce rock band again that he ended up playing on all but one of the tracks.
The past year has also been an eventful one for the Foos: In August, the group cancelled its European tour when drummer Taylor Hawkins was hospitalized after he “overindulged during festivities following the V2001 festival” in the U.K. Last fall, Grohl was working on his guest-filled metal side project Probot, while Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel threw himself into recording a project with his former Sunny Day Real Estate mates William Goldsmith and Jeremy Enigk. The Foos then entered the studio in November to begin work on their new album, and Queen guitarist Brian May showed up earlier this year to play on a pair of tracks.
In January, the Foos performed at the Winter Olympics, and in February they made an appearance at a benefit for the Musicians Assistance Program.
Grohl will behind the kit for QOTSA and in front of the mike for the Foos when both bands play the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, April 27-28 in Indio, California.
Queens of the Stone Age’s summer tour plans — which are expected to include Grohl — have yet to be solidified.