Wasting Light debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the band's first album to do so. In September, Foo Fighters performed tribute concerts to Hawkins at Wembley Stadium, London, and the Kia Forum, Los Angeles. The band confirmed that it would end its hiatus by playing two shows in Mexico City on December 11 and 13. Dave Grohl interview: 'I’m going to fix my leg and then I’m going to come back'" Archived June 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. He approached the guitar in a similar manner to his drumming, assigning various drum parts to strings on the instrument.

STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX requires every component of a textiles product – including all thread, buttons and trims – to be tested against a list of more than 1,000 harmful regulated and unregulated chemicals that may be harmful to human health. Around 2001, Foo Fighters established a relationship with the English rock band Queen, as the band (particularly Grohl [24] and Hawkins [25]) were fans. Of course, FFs are only a headliner atm if scheduled, but sub would feel 'wrong' to me for them as a secret set. An international tour, dubbed the Sonic Highways World Tour, followed with performances in South Africa in December and South America in January 2015.Hawkins and Grohl talked about resuming work on One by One and after a very satisfying performance the following day, they agreed to stay together. In July, one thousand Italian fans held the Rockin' 1000 gathering in Cesena, Italy, performing "Learn to Fly" and asking Foo Fighters to come play in the town. After spending four months in a Los Angeles studio, the album "just didn't sound right" and the band had no confidence it would sell well. When comparing the legacies of the two bands, Pitchfork said that Foo Fighters' "may not be anywhere near as glamorous or as era-defining as that of [Nirvana], but in a way, it's much more difficult and thankless". Prior to their August 21 concert at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, the band rickrolled protesting members of the Westboro Baptist Church, as they had also done in 2011.

Grohl occasionally booked studio time to record demos and covers, and released an album of demos, Pocketwatch, under the pseudonym Late!It was followed with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and heavier material. For the follow-up to In Your Honor, the band recruited The Colour and the Shape producer Gil Norton. Though Grohl hoped that Goldsmith would still play on the tour, Goldsmith felt betrayed and left the band. Taylor Hawkins Was Suffering from Chest Pains at Hotel Before Sudden Death, per Colombia Health Officials".

On February 20, 2013, at the Brit Awards, Grohl said he was resuming work on the album the following day. As a surprise performance, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen appeared to play part of We Will Rock You as a lead in to Tie Your Mother Down. Foo Fighters made their live public debut on February 23, 1995, at the Jambalaya Club in Arcata, California, followed by performances at Satyricon in Portland on March 3 and the Velvet Elvis in Seattle on March 4. While much of the setlist focused on In Your Honor's acoustic half, the band also used the opportunity to play lesser-known songs, such as Ain't It The Life, Floaty, and See You.Sandra Thurman, the director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, stated this was "extraordinarily irresponsible behavior. Sonic Highways (2014) was released as the soundtrack to the television miniseries directed by Grohl. The producer ( Gil Norton) wanted him to play drums on the record, and it felt like everyone was trying to get me to quit. Designed it pre DG post so now the Pulp font is looking a bit silly but least the logo will make sense. The original version of One by One, referred to by the band as Million Dollar Demos, has never been released in its entirety although seven tracks were leaked online in 2012 and 2015.

On May 15, it was announced that the album would be released in November and that Foo Fighters would commemorate the album and their 20th anniversary with an HBO TV series directed by Grohl titled Sonic Highways. In 2018, the Foo Fighters are more than just a reliable pop-rock machine and an outlet for the lead singer's creativity. On August 27, 2012, Foo Fighters ended their European tour with a headline performance at Reading and Leeds Festival. While the members of Foo Fighters had initially planned for their new album (composed of songs from this recording session) to have come out in 2009 with almost no touring support, they ultimately decided to shelve most of the songs from these sessions. Pat Smear was present in many photos posted by Grohl on Twitter, and a press release in December confirmed Smear played on every track on the album and was considered an official member of the band once again.The show, which occurred at the same time as the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, was announced only two weeks prior.