"Maybe it’s time." Dave Grohl might finally be ready to let Foo Fighters do something they've never done in their 30 year career

Foo Fighters press shot 2026 — (Image credit: Elizabeth Miranda)

There is very little that Foo Fighters haven't done in their storied 31 year career. The band started by Dave Grohl as a solo project in the wake of the passing of his Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain have become true global superstars, racking up number one albums across the globe, and headlining some of the most iconic music festivals on earth. But as Grohl's band gear up for the April release of their twelfth studio album, Your Favorite Toy, they have been reminded that there remains one major landmark achievement that they've yet to tick off.

In an interview conducted for Kerrang! Radio by DJ Sophie K, it was put to Grohl that his band have yet to play Download festival in the UK. The DJ told Grohl that, every year, commentators on the Download website forums express their hopes that Foo Fighters will be announced to play, but those hopes and dreams have yet to materialise.

"We need you there," the band are informed, with Sophie K suggesting that Your Favorite Toy, which Grohl has teased as being a collection of "noisy, loud bangers", could be tailor-made for a Download audience.

"Maybe it's time," Grohl acknowledges.

When Sophie K suggests that her interview will be sent to the promoters of Download in order to get them booked, Grohl simply replies, "Overdue."

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This past weekend, Foo Fighters announced intimate shows in Dublin (February 23), London {February 25) and Manchester (February 27), with tickets being sold exclusively to fans who queued up outside the respective venues.

Dave Grohl's band will play for rather larger audiences at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium on June 25 and 27.

During an appearance last week on BBC TVs' The Graham Norton Show, Grohl admitted that he was surprised that the band had only booked two 'proper' shows for 2026 in the UK, but that management had informed him that the 'real' tour would be "a year and a half from now."

Your Favorite Toy (Live on The Graham Norton Show) - YouTube

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The follow-up to 2023's But Here We Are, Your Favorite Toy will be released via Roswell Records/Columbia Records on April 24.

The 10-track album was recorded at Dave Grohl's 606 studio and co-produced by Foo Fighters and their in-house engineer Oliver Roman, formerly the frontman of LA rock band Jaw Talk.

The album tracklist is:

1. Caught In The Echo
2. Of All People
3. Window
4. Your Favorite Toy
5. If You Only Knew
6. Spit Shine
7. Unconditional
8. Child Actor
9. Amen, Caveman
10. Asking For A Friend

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

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