The Police: This is how Foo Fighters got their name
Dave Grohl explained how The Police helped him pick a name for Foo Fighters. At the same time, they put forward drummer Stewart Copeland as the ideal person to induct the band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
By Dimitris (Bari) Polyzois
Foo Fighters were recently named among the nominees for the Hall Of Fame's 2021 class. Although it's not certain they'll win induction, Grohl said he'll enjoy the experience! Through the interview, he gave us an untold story about how Foo Fighters got their name.
Through the interview, he gave us an untold story about how Foo Fighters got their name.
However, Dave also touched on the band's beginnings. "This band started with this demo tape I made. I went into the studio for five days, played every instrument, and recorded 13 or 14 songs. Just like that! Purely for fun. I made cassettes and called them 'Foo Fighters' because I really didn't want everyone to know it was me. I figured if I gave someone a cassette, they might think it was a fully-formed band. They'd be surprised to find out it was just one person, and that specifically, that person was me. Coming off Nirvana, I didn't want to say, 'Hey, I've got a solo project!'. So I called it Foo Fighters." That's kind of how Foo Fighters got their name.
Grohl had landed on the approach after recalling a childhood experience. "When I was young, someone gave me a record by an artist called Klark Kent," he said.
"It had this weird sound. It sounded a lot like The Police, because it actually was Stewart Copeland, the band's drummer. So they made this record under the name Klark Kent. He didn't put his name on the record. When you first got hold of it, you'd say, 'Wow, who's Klark Kent? This is kind of rad!' Then someone would say [whispering], 'That's Stewart Copeland!'"
"That's the thing that inspired me. I think Stew would be a great guy to be the first to look at the band."
Still, the name wasn't just random. The nickname "foo fighter" was coined by Allied airplane pilots for UFOs and other aerial phenomena.
Over the course of their career, Foo Fighters have won 12 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album four times. The band has also won an American Music Award, four Brit Awards, and two MTV Video Music Awards.
