Foo Fighters to Go on Hiatus

By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.

When Dave Grohl looked out at the sea of people in Central Park last weekend for the Global Citizen Festival, he was moved to say he did not know if his band, the Foo Fighters, would ever play a concert together again.

“We don't have any shows after this,” he said. “This is where we play as many songs as we can in a short period of time, because, honestly, I don't know when we're going to do it again.”

The comment provoked some fans to wonder if Mr. Grohl intended to break up the band.  Then, at the end of the concert, the Foos had their picture taken at the front of the stage with the crowd behind them. A shot to commemorate the final gig?

Now Mr. Grohl, the singer and songwriter who started the Foo Fighters 18 years ago, has posted an open letter on the band's official Facebook page making it clear that it is officially on hiatus.  “I'm not sure when the Foo Fighters are going to play agai n,” he wrote. “It feels strange to say that, but it's a good thing for all of us to go away for a while.”

Mr. Grohl took pains to say that the Foo Fighters were not breaking up, calling the band “my life” and saying he could never give it up.  But he added that members needed a break from one another.  “Sometimes it's good to just … put it back in the garage for a while,” he wrote.

Mr. Grohl formed the band in 1994 after Kurt Cobain's suicide ended Nirvana, the band in which Mr. Grohl had been the drummer.  He recorded the Foo Fighters' self-titled debut before inviting other members to join and has been the driving creative force behind the group ever since. The band, with its songs built around the melodic, loud-quiet-loud template Nirvana popularized, has been one of rock's most successful acts, winning 11 Grammys, including five earlier this year in connection with its latest studio album “Wasting Light” ( Columbia).

Mr. Grohl said he would devote himself in the coming months to finishing a documentary film and album he has been making called Sound City, which he said “could be the biggest, most important project I've ever worked on.”