Foo Fighters

As you can see by my Avatar, I'm a big Foos fan. Great group of talented, cool dudes.

Dave Grohl: Ex-Nirvana drummer, now lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist (mostly).
Nate Mendel: Used to play in Sunny Day Real estate, now in Fire Theft. Bassist. Has been in the band since Dave started it.
Taylor Hawkins: Used to play in Alanis Morissette's old band, Sexual Chocolate. Plays drums and does some back-up vocals. Joined sometime after the second album.
Chris Shifflet: He was in a lot of bands, I can't remember them all. No Use for a Name, Me First and the Gimme Gimme's, and I'm not sure what else. Main guitarist and does some back-up vocals. Joined sometime after the third album and the tour.

I'm not going to elaborate much on the history, because it's not incredibly relevant to their music and you can always check it out on wikipedia.org. The Foos started in 1995, a year after Nirvana ended, and Dave Grohl recorded a demo tape by himself, which was the first Foo album (self-titled). Soon enough, he began a real band with himself, Nate, William Goldsmith, and Pat Smear (who joined Nirvana near its end). With every album, they've come out with hit after hit, some of the most notable being "Monkey Wrench," "Learn to Fly," "Everlong," "All My Life," etc. They've also remained a consistently great live band, and they have a tendancy to go over the top during songs by breaking into several-minute-long jams.

The Foo Fighters definitely fall under "alternate rock." Sometimes, they'll come out with some artsy, beautiful rock ballad, such as "Everlong" or "Come Back," and other times Dave will regress into his metal roots and whip out songs like "All My Life," "Low," or "Stacked Actors." Each member of the Foos is incredibly gifted and Dave fully understands and utilizes this, especially in "In Your Honor." They are definitely a versatile band, but not quite to the extent as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, for instance. Dave's songwriting is excellent and often times underrated by many due to his background in Nirvana. Some people take offense to the fact that Dave may be a better songwriter than Kurt, and I've heard him be criticized for that a few times by fans of both FF and Nirvana.

The Foo Fighters are not only talented, but they're also simple, average people. When you read about them in interviews, you can see just a group of guys that haven't let stardom go to their heads and just live like ordinary people. They don't do drugs anymore (although Taylor did when he first joined and OD'd on something a few years ago), and they don't flaunt their wealth or take advantage of the fact they're rock stars. They also have a great sense of humor, very prominent in their music videos. ("Big Me," "Learn to Fly," "Low" ). They're a great band and definitely worth a listen. A new album is expected sometime in March.