Foo Fighters

The Colour and the Shape (1997) is the album that established Foo Fighters as one of rock's defining acts. Goldsmith departed mid-recording — Grohl quietly re-recorded most of the drum parts himself — and Taylor Hawkins, previously the touring drummer for Alanis Morissette, replaced him and immediately became central to the band's identity. The album produced "Monkey Wrench," "My Hero," and "Everlong" — a song certified double platinum and widely considered one of the greatest rock songs of the 1990s. Smear departed soon after but would return repeatedly over the years; he officially rejoined in 2010 and remains. Guitarist Chris Shiflett joined in 1999 and has been a constant since. Keyboardist Rami Jaffee formally joined in 2017.

Over the following two decades, Foo Fighters released a string of critically and commercially successful albums: There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999), One by One (2002), In Your Honor (2005, a double album), Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007), and Wasting Light (2011) — the latter recorded on analog tape in Grohl's garage and widely acclaimed as their best work since The Colour and the Shape. Sonic Highways (2014) was a concept album recorded in eight different American cities, each chapter of which became a documentary episode. Medicine at Midnight (2021) arrived just as the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — Grohl's second induction, following Nirvana's in 2014. That same year they became the first-ever recipients of the MTV Video Music Awards' Global Icon Award. Across their catalog they hold a record-setting five Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album — for There Is Nothing Left to Lose, One by One, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Wasting Light, and Medicine at Midnight — and 15 Grammy Awards in total.

On March 25, 2022, Taylor Hawkins died suddenly in Bogotá, Colombia, ahead of the band's scheduled performance at Festival Estéreo Picnic. He was 50. Hawkins had been Grohl's closest friend and the creative and emotional center of the band for 25 years. His death shook the rock world deeply. The band held two massive tribute concerts — in London and Los Angeles — that September, bringing together dozens of musicians who had loved him. In June 2023, with drummer Josh Freese in the lineup, Foo Fighters released But Here We Are — an album written in the shadow of Hawkins' death that stands as one of the most emotionally direct things Grohl has ever recorded. Ilan Rubin has since joined as the touring drummer, and the band has continued forward, releasing Your Favorite Toy in 2026.

Wayne Dennon photographed Foo Fighters across multiple shows, capturing a band that has always treated the concert stage as sacred ground. Dave Grohl is one of rock's great performers — joyful, communal, and completely committed — and the Foo Fighters live show has for thirty years been a reminder of why rock and roll matters. Wayne's images reflect exactly that.