Turns out there might’ve been good reason that Dave Grohl played the Oscars’ In Memoriam tribute solo instead of with his bandmates, and it’s that the Foo Fighters are reportedly set to take an indefinite hiatus. Or an “ihateus” as Foo drummer Taylor Hawkins revealed the band has been calling it, in a recent interview.
Consequence of Sound reports on the breakup:
Yesterday New York Post’s Page Six reported news of the band’s impending “break.” The story noted that frontman Dave Grohl would be pursuing a solo project, “and [Hawkins] is pissed about it.” A representative for Foo Fighters called the story “utterly ridiculous,” but nevertheless, the band felt compelled to make a major announcement on Wednesday night.
Artisan News preempted Foo Fighters’ announcement by publishing an interview with Hawkins from January 16th. When asked about the band’s future, Hawkins broke the news of their hiatus — or, as the band jokingly calls it, an “ihateus.”
“We’re on ihateus right now, we’re on an indefinite ihateus,” Hawkins explained. He added that the decision “was not because we don’t love each other, or don’t want to make music together … We did so much in the last five or six years — we as a band could go into the studio tomorrow and have just as much fun as we ever had, but I think the world needs a break from us for a little while.”
Here’s the video of Hawkins’ interview with Artisan News; his comments about the Foo Fighters’ impending split start around the 5:00 mark.
Totally bummer news for any FF fans out there holding onto them being a late addition to the festival scene this summer. At least there’s 12 albums, a multitude of EPs and a few notable live releases to hopefully hold fans over during the hiatus. However, the sound of “indefinite” is always a scary thing, because there’s always the “what if?” they actually never get back together. But having reunited after taking breaks in the past, and celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, it’s hard to believe Grohl and the boys won’t take to the stage together again at some point.
For Foo Fighting sake, we’re hoping that time isn’t too far down the Sonic Highways…
[h/t Consequence of Sound]