The Foo Fighters is surely one of the most successful American rock bands of the last two decades. They are known for their energetic live performances and have sold over 12 million records worldwide. There are turmoils in a band due to various reasons.
While the Foo Fighters may have looked strong, back in the early 2000s, the band nearly had to split according to the late drummer Taylor Hawkins. Although the early 2000s might have seemed like a carefree time, the band actually came dangerously close to breaking up when recording their 2002 album “One By One.” It was also the time, Taylor Hawkins questioned Dave Grohl’s leadership.
Taylor talked about it during his interview with Metal Hammer in 2005. He said, “I love all the records we’ve done, but I think maybe less so with the last one, ‘One By One,’ which is half a good record and half one that is a little bit shoddy. It was probably not the best outing. But it is a picture of that time. We nearly broke up. We didn’t know what we were going to do.”
He also added, “I wasn’t surprised when we binned the demo. I was thinking, ‘Should we even be making records?’ It was such a disorganized, unfocused time. I don’t think Dave was sure of what he wanted to do, and, you know, he is the leader. I think he was still in love with the Queens Of The Stone Age stuff; he really wanted to go and play with them. I think he missed playing drums.”
Late Hawkins also made another statement. According to him, Grohl was living in the past but then he returned. He said when he came back, Dave realized he didn’t want to play drums for someone else.
“Now he’s learned to balance it out so he can play drums on all these great records because everyone wants him to play drums for them. So he can do that, and then he can return to the Foo Fighters, so he’s happy“, he said.
Their relationship was special and it spanned decades. They met again in 1997 when Dave Grohl invited Taylor to become the drummer for the Foo Fighters. While they had their problems with each other at times, Taylor has praised Dave’s mentorship and guidance. When the two shared the stage, their relationship was clear. They had a strong bond, and it’s obvious how much they enjoyed bouncing ideas off one another while performing.
