ABC/Adam TaylorComing off one of the busiest years of their career, Foo Fighters took a well-deserved break in 2016. But the band still managed to make plenty of headlines.
-- At the end of 2015, after completing a long tour, during which Dave Grohl performed from a mechanized throne due to his broken leg, Foo Fighters released a new EP called Saint Cecilia. In a letter announcing the EP, Grohl hinted that the band would be taking a bit of a hiatus.
-- To lead off 2016, it was announced that Grohl would be giving a "special performance" at the Oscars. That turned out to be a solo, acoustic rendition of the Beatles classic "Blackbird" during the award show's "In Memoriam" segment.
-- Following the Oscars performance, rumors that the Foos were breaking up started to spread. Reports surfaced that Grohl was planning to go solo, and drummer Taylor Hawkins wasn't happy about it. Amidst all the break-up rumors, Foo Fighters revealed that they would be making an "official band announcement."
-- The night of the announcement, Foo Fighters posted a comic video that started with a sunglasses-wearing Grohl talking with producer Butch Vig about going solo. Vig convinces him that EDM is what's "cool and hip" these days, and Grohl decides to become an electronic musician. Meanwhile, the rest of the Foos try to find a Grohl replacement, pitching names like Gwen Stefani, Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell and even Justin Bieber. Eventually, they decide on former boy-band member Nick Lachey, and they all play "Everlong" together.
-- The video concluded with a message from the Foos: "For the millionth time, we're not breaking up. And nobody's going f****** solo!"
-- After making their major announcement, Foo Fighters remained relatively quiet, except for the occasional bit of news. Grohl wrote a letter to the British government asking that they allow a young band to keep playing in their garage, and told a story at the Cannes Lion festival about performing high with Taylor Swift during a party at Paul McCartney's house.
-- Things started to pick up in Foo land again when the band mysteriously posted a map of Europe on their social media. They then began to announce appearances at European festivals for 2017, including Rock Werchter in Belgium, Nos Alive in Portugal and Open'er in Poland.
-- While Grohl never did end up going solo, Hawkins did release a 6-track album called KOTA under his own name.
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