Then Cobain's much-publicized suicide promptly ended Nirvana in April 1994. Instead of sitting around depressed, Grohl began working and playing with others, lending his drumming talents to the Backbeat motion picture soundtrack and Mike Watt's Ball-Hog or Tugboat? release (as well as serving as Watt's touring drummer for a stretch of time), plus backing Tom Petty on a Saturday Night Live appearance. Later in the year, Grohl dusted off some of the songs he recorded for the Pocketwatch demo and began writing and recording some new tracks, again playing all the instruments himself. Not sure initially if these songs would ever see the light of day, he eventually decided to issue them under the name Foo Fighters, and promptly formed an ad hoc band consisting of ex-Germs/Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear and ex-Sunny Day Real Estate members William Goldsmith (drums) and Nate Mendel (bass), while Grohl surprisingly put his drumming days behind him in favor of guitarist/singer duties. The band's self-titled 1995 release became a hit, as the band's sound was similar to his last full-time band -- hard-edged punk rockers mixed with melodic midtempo pop rockers.

While the band lineup solidified with the arrival of ex-Alanis Morissette drummer Taylor Hawkins, a revolving-door policy still applied to the other Foos fighting alongside Grohl. Nevertheless, the group widened its fan base with each successive release. 1997's Colour and the Shape became the first truly collaborative Foo album, and a worldwide hit; two years later, There Is Nothing Left to Lose dropped to widespread acclaim, and further distanced Grohl the songwriter, singer, and guitarist from Grohl the ex-drummer of Nirvana. In 2000, he took a quick break from his main gig, contributing drum tracks to metal hero Tony Iommi's self-titled solo record. Early the following year, the Foos threw eager fans a bone, streaming stomper "The One" from their website. But Grohl's past came back to haunt him in late 2001, when famous Kurt Cobain widow and mouthpiece-about-town Courtney Love sued him, Krist Noveselic, and Universal Music Group for control of Nirvana's master recordings. The lawsuit would drag on for almost two years. Grohl and his band kicked off 2002 with a performance at the Winter Olympics. He then surprised fans and observers again with his emergence as the touring drummer for underground hard rock outfit Queens of the Stone Age. Grohl gigged with the band through the summer, and also played on the breakthrough Queens LP Songs for the Deaf, issued that August. The Foos' One by One appeared in October and almost immediately began spawning hit singles, each accompanied by a typically entertaining, Grohl-directed music video. The Love lawsuit was also settled, and late 2002 saw the arrival of a one-disc Nirvana retrospective. In spring 2003, Grohl, Hawkins, and the rest of the Foos embarked on an extensive tour in support of One by One.