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Bad Bunny performs on SNL on Oct. 21, 2023. NBC/WIll Heath/NBC hide caption

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Music

'SNL' just wrapped its 49th season: It's time to cruelly rank its musical guests

May 20, 2024 • From Billie Eilish to Bad Bunny, JT to J.Lo, boygenius to Ice Spice, here they are: the home-run performances, the solid base hits and the outright whiffs.

Foo Fighters perform in Gilford, N.H. on May 24. The band's 11th studio album, But Here We Are, is out now. Scarlet Page/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review

Music Reviews

Foo Fighters' 'But Here We Are' is heavy, in every sense of the word

June 2, 2023 • These songs ache with loss, even as they explode in full-bore rock mayhem, and that loss extends beyond the deaths of loved ones.

Musician Taylor Hawkins attends the Open Road's premiere of "Studio 666" in February. Hawkins died in March at the age of 50. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Music News

Foo Fighters perform an emotional tribute concert for drummer Taylor Hawkins

September 4, 2022 • The rock group played the first of two tribute concerts for their late drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in March at the age of 50.

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Musician Taylor Hawkins appears at One Love Malibu in Calabasas, Calif., on Dec. 2, 2018. Foo Fighters will honor the rock band's late drummer Taylor Hawkins with a pair of tribute concerts in September — one in London and the other in Los Angeles. Amy Harris/Amy Harris/Invision/AP hide caption

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Music News

Foo Fighters will honor their late bandmate Taylor Hawkins with 2 tribute concerts

June 9, 2022 • Hawkins, who died in March, won 15 Grammys and became a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Jon Batiste (center) performs at the 64th annual Grammy Awards on April 3, 2022. Batiste was nominated in 11 categories and took home five prizes, including album of the year. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images hide caption

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The 2022 Grammy Awards

The Grammys make a clear statement: Sometimes feeling good is good enough

April 4, 2022 • The show, despite a delay caused by the pandemic and brief moments of seriousness, was mostly a highly professional, relentlessly energetic showcase for the pleasure of live music. Plus a few awards.

Jon Batiste accepts the Grammy for album of the year at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, presented Sunday, April 3 in Las Vegas. Batiste was the night's biggest winner by the numbers, with five awards including the night's final honor. Rich Fury/Getty Images for The Recording Academy hide caption

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Music News

Jon Batiste and Silk Sonic take home major prizes at 2022 Grammys

April 4, 2022 • In a year of particularly wide-ranging nominees and competitive fields, bandleader Jon Batiste and the duo Silk Sonic came away with big prizes. Ukrainian president Zelenskyy also made an appearance.

The late drummer Taylor Hawkins, performing with Foo Fighters in Malibu, California in 2018. Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for ABA hide caption

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Music News

Foo Fighters cancel all tour dates after drummer Taylor Hawkins' death

March 29, 2022 • The multi-platinum band announced that it has canceled all upcoming tour dates, calling the death of its drummer a "staggering loss." Hawkins died Friday in Colombia where the band was on tour.

Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters performs at the Innings Festival at Tempe Beach Park on Feb. 26 in Tempe, Ariz. The band's longtime drummer has died, the band announced late Friday. Amy Harris/Invision/AP hide caption

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Obituaries

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dies at 50

March 26, 2022 • The longtime drummer for the megaplatinum band has died. On Saturday, Colombian officials released a statement, saying they found evidence of 10 types of substances in Hawkins' body.

The Beatles on Mount Doom (or a still from Peter Jackson's Get Back, a documentary constructed from footage shot during the making of the band's last studio albums and final performance). Linda McCartney/Apple Corps Ltd. hide caption

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Music

The Fellowship of the Rockers

December 21, 2021 • The new documentary Get Back, cut from 50-year-old footage of Beatles recording sessions by director Peter Jackson, offers a chance to look at one moment when the myth of the "band guy" took shape.

Dave Grohl performs onstage during the taping of the 2021 "Vax Live" fundraising concert at the in Inglewood, Calif. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Music Interviews

Dave Grohl retraces his life-affirming path from Nirvana to Foo Fighters

Fresh Air

November 24, 2021 • After Nirvana ended, Grohl wasn't sure he wanted to continue making music. But, he says, "I realized that music was the one thing that had healed me my entire life." His memoir is The Storyteller.

Dave Grohl retraces his life-affirming path from Nirvana to Foo Fighters

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Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, seen here in the "Vax Live" fundraising concert held in May, performs at Madison Square Garden in June. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Music News

Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Strokes Rock Vaccinated New Yorkers In June

June 8, 2021 • Well ahead of a celebratory Central Park concert announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio for August, New York City's venues are coming back in June for vaccinated audiences.

Megan Thee Stallion kicked off Saturday Night Live's 46th season in style — and with substance. Will Heath/NBC hide caption

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Review

Music

'SNL' Musical Guests, Ranked From No. 1 To Morgan Wallen

May 24, 2021 • Every year, Saturday Night Live showcases some of the biggest stars in pop, rock, hip-hop and more. At the end of each season, we rank them with cold-hearted precision.

Electronic artist Flume performs at Lollapalooza in 2016. The festival is set to return at full capacity this summer. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Samsung hide caption

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Music News

Foo Fighters Headline Lollapalooza As Chicago Summer Festival Season Opens Up

May 19, 2021 • Lollapalooza is back this summer, with proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test required for entry. With Pitchfork Festival and Riot Fest also returning, Chicago prepares for a loud reopening.

Foo Fighters Headline Lollapalooza As Chicago Summer Festival Season Opens Up

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Jay-Z (pictured in 2005) was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Wednesday, in his first year of eligibility. Scott Gries/Getty Images hide caption

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Music News

Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner Among 16 Nominees For Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

February 10, 2021 • The Rock Hall announced nominations for its 2021 inductees on Wednesday morning. Six women were on the ballot, a marginal improvement from 2020's sole female inductee.

Hayley Williams. Her surprise new solo album, Flowers for Vases – descanos, is on our list of the best new albums out on Feb. 5. Lindsey Byrnes/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The Top 10 Albums Out On Feb. 5

February 5, 2021 • NPR Music's roundup of the week's best new albums includes a surprise solo release from Paramore's Hayley Williams, the 20th anniversary edition of J Dilla's Welcome 2 Detroit, Foo Fighters and more.

New Music Friday: The Top 10 Albums Out On Feb. 5

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The Foo Fighters celebrate their 25th anniversary with a cheery, upbeat sound on their 10th record entitled Medicine at Midnight. Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Music Interviews

Dave Grohl Talks Foo Fighters' New Saturday-Night Party Album, 'Medicine At Midnight'

February 5, 2021 • The release of the band's 10th album, and a world tour in support of it, had to be put on hold thanks to you-know-what. But there's only so long folks can wait before needing some release.

Dave Grohl Talks Foo Fighters' New Saturday-Night Party Album, 'Medicine At Midnight'

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A still from Dave Grohl's Play. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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New Music

Watch Several Dave Grohls 'Play' A 23-Minute Rock Song

August 9, 2018 • Guitar, bass, drums, vibraphone, synths, you name it — Dave plays it.

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Donald Glover, performing as Childish Gambino on Saturday Night Live May 5, 2018. NBC/Will Heath/NBC hide caption

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All Songs Considered

This Season's 'SNL' Musical Guests, Cruelly Ranked

May 21, 2018 • With the 2017-18 season of Saturday Night Live now a wrap, we consider all 21 musical guests from this year — from worst to best. Apologies in advance to Sam Smith.

A still from Foo Fighters' "The Sky Is The Neighborhood" video. YouTube hide caption

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All Songs TV

Strange Things Are Afoot In Foo Fighters' 'The Sky Is A Neighborhood' Video

August 23, 2017 • For its second single, the band stomps on top of a fantastical forest cabin inhabited by two young girls, who happen to be played by Grohl's daughters.

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All Songs TV

Foo Fighters' New Song, 'Run,' Sparks A Nursing-Home Uprising

June 1, 2017 • Clad in old-man makeup, Dave Grohl's band returns with a blistering new song — and a video in which the violent elderly are unleashed on an unwitting world.

Dave Grohl, center, with The Foo Fighters Brantley Gutierrez hide caption

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All Songs Considered

Guest DJ Dave Grohl

November 11, 2014 • Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl joins hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton to discuss his upbringing in Washington, D.C., and the role of geography in Foo Fighters' new album, Sonic Highways.

Guest DJ Dave Grohl

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Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters performs at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. as part of the birthday celebration for Big Tony of Trouble Funk. Kyle Gustafson/Washington Post/Getty images hide caption

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All Songs Considered

The Albums, Shows And Videos Of The Week

May 10, 2014 • The albums, videos and musical moments that stopped the All Songs Considered host in his tracks this week. This week: Dave Grohl throws his childhood heroes a rocking hometown party.

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