In a new interview with Guitar Player, Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka named the worst band name ever.
“Foo Fighters. I was talking with Dave Grohl and he told me how much he hated the name,” the rocker revealed.
The name ‘Foo Fighters’ comes from World War II, when pilots reported mysterious flying objects. A notable incident involved a Bristol Beaufighter crew from the 415th Night Fighter Squadron in November 1944, who witnessed something extraordinary over Europe.
After Nirvana ended with Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, Grohl wasn’t sure how long his new project would last, so he called it Foo Fighters.
“It’s the dumbest band name ever,” said Dave Grohl in a 2014 interview on 60 Minutes, referring to the band’s name. “I called it Foo Fighters because I didn’t want people… I didn’t want to put my name on it at first. I didn’t want people to say, like, ‘Oh, that’s the guy from Nirvana.’”
Grohl hoped to stay anonymous and release the recordings in a limited run under the name Foo Fighters, believing the name would make listeners think the music was created by multiple people.
Little did Grohl know that Foo Fighters would take up the next 30 years of his life. Grohl also admitted that if he had known the impact of his decision, he might have considered it more carefully.