Foo Fighters Perform ‘Waiting on a War,’ Dave Grohl Talks Emailing With Bowie on ‘Fallon’

The Foo Fighters appeared on The Tonight Show Monday, February 9th, to perform a song from their new album, Medicine at Midnight, while frontman Dave Grohl joined Jimmy Fallon for an interview.

The Foos sent in a characteristically supersized rendition of their track, “Waiting on a War.” The group even added a trio of background vocalists to the mix to help them take the song from its swooning acoustic start to its booming, big guitar finale.

In his interview with Fallon, Grohl spoke about the long process of releasing Medicine at Midnight, which he said the band designed, pre-Covid, to be part of some raucous stadium shows that ultimately weren’t able to happen. He also shared a great David Bowie story, saying the pair had met at Bowie’s famous 50th-birthday concert in 1997, and then some years later Grohl reached out to see if Bowie wanted to sing on a track he’d written for a movie.

After waiting quite a while for a response, one finally arrived with Bowie politely turning down the offer. Grohl, a little flustered that he’d just received an email from David Bowie, quickly sent back a straightforward thank you. Bowie then replied about a minute later: “Well, that’s settled then. Now fuck off.”

“I’m like, ‘Oh my god! Holy crap! David Bowie just told me to fuck off!’” Grohl recalled. “So I emailed back — and I hadn’t seen him since his birthday party at Madison Square Garden — I said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll see you in another 15 years.’ And he goes, ‘Not if I see you first.’”

Grohl admitted it took him a moment to realize Bowie was being funny and didn’t actually think he was an asshole. He added that the exchange launched an erratic and goofy correspondence over the years where Bowie would do things like randomly wish him a happy new year in June. “I’d say, ‘Drink some day, yes?’” Grohl recalled. “And he’d immediately email back and say, ‘I will, thanks.’”