Dave Grohl

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987.... Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990. In the late 1980s Nirvana established itself as part of the Seattle grunge scene, releasing its first album Bleach for the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. The band eventually came to develop a sound that relied on dynamic contrasts, often between quiet verses and loud, heavy choruses. After signing to major label DGC Records, Nirvana found unexpected success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single from the band's second album Nevermind . Nirvana's sudden success widely popularized alternative rock as a whole, and as the band's frontman Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the "spokesman of a generation", with Nirvana being considered the "flagship band" of Generation X. Nirvana's third studio album In Utero , challenged the group's audience, featuring an abrasive, less-mainstream sound. The album didn't match the sales figures of Nevermind but was still a commercial success.
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Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. It was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project... following the death of Kurt Cobain and the resulting dissolution of his previous band. The group got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as foo fighters. Prior to the release of the Foo Fighters' 1995 debut album Foo Fighters, which featured Grohl as the only official member, Grohl recruited bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith, both formerly of Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as fellow Nirvana touring bandmate Pat Smear as guitarist to complete the lineup. The band began with performances in Portland, Oregon. Goldsmith quit during the recording of the group's second album, The Colour and the Shape when most of the drum parts were re-recorded by Grohl himself. Smear's departure followed soon afterward. They were replaced by Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl, respectively, although Stahl was fired before the recording of the group's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose .
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Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up includes founding... member Josh Homme , alongside longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen , Joey Castillo , and Michael Shuman , who were joined by Dean Fertita in 2007. Formed after the dissolution of Homme's previous band, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age developed a style of riff-oriented, heavy rock music. Their sound has since evolved to incorporate a variety of different styles and influences, including working with ZZ Top member Billy Gibbons and steady contributor Mark Lanegan, both of whom have contributed from genres such as blues and grunge respectively. Queens of the Stone Age began with Josh Homme in 1996. After the breakup of Kyuss in 1995, Homme had briefly joined The Screaming Trees as a touring guitarist, before deciding to form a new band of his own.
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Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group. Geffen Records was founded in 1980 by music industry businessman David Geffen who, in the early 1970s, had founded Asylum Records. Geffen stepped... down from Asylum in 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named a vice-president of Warner Brothers Pictures. He was fired from Warner circa 1978, but remained locked in a 5-year contract, preventing him from working elsewhere. He returned to work in 1980 and struck a deal with Warner Bros. Records to create Geffen Records. Warner provided 100 percent of the funding for the label's operations and distributed the label's releases in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom - CBS/Epic Records handled distribution in the rest of the world until 1985, when Warner Bros. also took over those territories. However, in the United Kingdom the label switched distribution from Warner Bros. to CBS in 1981. Profits were split 50/50 between Geffen and the respective distributors.
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Capitol Records is a major United States–based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but as of 2011 operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine. It is a... wholly owned subsidiary of EMI. The Capitol Records Company was founded by songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1942, with the financial help of fellow songwriter and film producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs , owner of Music City, at the time the biggest record store in Los Angeles. Johnny Mercer first suggested the idea of starting a record company while he was golfing with Harold Arlen and Bobby Sherwood. He told them, "I’ve got this idea of starting a record company. I get so tired of listening to the way everyone treats music. I keep feeling they’re selling out. And I don’t like the way artists are treated either. Bing Crosby isn’t the only one who can make records. I don’t know, I think it would be fun." By 1941, Mercer was not only an experienced songwriter, but a singer with a number of records to his name.
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Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in the independent punk music of the D.C.-area music scene. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release Minor Disturbance by The Teen Idles. The label is most notable... for having maintained a strict do-it-yourself ethic, producing all of its albums by itself and selling them at discount prices without the help of major distributors. Dischord continues to release records by bands from Washington D.C., and to document and support the Washington D.C. music scene. Dischord was a local label in the early days of hardcore, and is one of the more famous independent labels, along with the likes of Alternative Tentacles, SST Records, and Touch & Go Records. Early releases by Dischord were relatively well-produced compared to other punk recordings of the time. Minor Threat's work is an example of these higher production values.
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Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and in the... United States. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. Heavy metal lyrics and performance styles are generally associated with masculinity and machismo. The first heavy metal bands, such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple, eventually attracted large audiences, though many were critically reviled , a status common throughout the history of the genre. In the mid-1970s Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence; Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Bands in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal such as Iron Maiden followed in a similar vein. Before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as "metalheads" or "headbangers".
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