There are moments in life that you will never forget where you were when you heard about them. I have had several of those throughout my lifetime. I don’t remember where I was when Armstrong landed on the moon, or when JFK was shot – nothing like that. For me, it has always been music related. I remember what I was doing when I heard the news about John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Chester Bennington, and Chris Cornell; I still get goosebumps just thinking about those. One that impacted me just as much was hearing about the passing of Taylor Hawkins – a modern day tragedy, but here we are.
The Foo Fighters’ latest album is adroitly named “But Here We Are,” and it simply fits the moment. We want to believe we all feel the same sense of loss for Hawkins, and for the most part we do. When you were as close as this band was – they are brothers – their loss is unimaginable. But as with everything in life, we must move forward. So was the task for the remaining members of the band.
What did the Foo’s embark on to pick up the pieces? They grieved and worked through it as best they could. From this heartbreak emerged their 11th studio album, “But Here We Are.” Along the way, the band went through the process of finding another gifted soul to sit behind the drum kit. There were lots of qualified and legendary drummers out there, but like in “Highlander,” there can only be one. The latest member to be added to this exclusive club is Josh Freese. With Freese as a Foo, and all that behind them, the Foo’s are set to play shows again worldwide.
Lead singer and guitarist Dave Grohl has had to deal with loss again. We know about Cobain, but he also lost his biggest fan – his mom Virginia passed in 2022 as well – and that in itself was a monumental loss. With the passing of Hawkins, the sense of darkness could have engulfed him into a sea of despair. In his book “The Storyteller,” Grohl described Hawkins as “my brother from another mother, my best friend, a man from whom I would take a bullet.”
That is the kind of kinship that goes beyond the mortal realm. Needless to say, it is a loss that a person will never really get over, but instead, you learn to accept it and live life and honor the past and your fallen friends.
Now we get to hear what the emotions that have engulfed our sadness and fueled our hope in the form of new Foo Fighters music. As expected, we have been teased over the past few weeks with singles from the album. “Rescued” is doing extremely well. Songs like “Under You,” “Hearing Voices,” “The Teacher,” and “Beyond Me” capture a moment in time we can all relate too. Of the 10 songs on the album, it is “Rest” that will move us all.
The album was birthed from tragedy, but will live in inspiration. Grohl, Pat Smear, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee all found a way to capture their feelings, and wrap them up in a way so we can all grieve and our souls can move forward.
