The Foo Fighters are gearing up for their next era. After teasing a typically hard-hitting new song earlier this month with a brief fist-pumping instrumental snippet, the veteran Dave Grohl-led band dropped the blistering “Asking For a Friend” single on Thursday morning (Oct. 23).
The song opens with a gentle guitar figure and Grohl singing, “Save your promises until we meet again/ You can save all your promises until the bitter end/ What is real, I’m asking for a friend/ What is real, I’m asking for a friend.” Then, as is their wont, the loud-quiet-even-louder band explodes into a giant riff mania, with Grohl howling, “Or is this the end?” as the song picks up steam.
Over pounding drums and layers of guitar, Grohl pleads, “Lay your worry down/ Save your promises til we meet again/ Save all your promises until the bitter end,” later wondering, “when you’re alone, am I a part of you?/ Am I a part of you?,” before assuring, “You’re not alone/ I am a part of you/ When I’m apart from you.” The four-and-a-half-minute song’s see-saw journey explodes at the three-minute mark, picking up the pace and launching into a blitz of howling Grohl vocals and a barrage of speed-metal-like riffs as it sprints to a close.
At press time a spokesperson for the band had not returned Billboard‘s request for confirmation that former Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin plays on the track.
The dark rocker is a follow-up to the more upbeat previous one-off single, the emotional “Today’s Song,” and, after playing a series of intimate club shows with Rubin, the group also announced the first dates of their 2026 Take Cover stadium tour, their first run of stadium gigs since the 2023-2024 Everything or Nothing at All run.
The tour is slated to kick off on Aug. 4 at Rogers Stadium in Toronto and then hit Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Nashville, Washington, D.C., Fargo, N.D., Regina, Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Vancouver before wrapping up at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Queens of the Stone Age will open all the dates except for the Fargo stop, with Mannequin Pussy and Gouge Away also lined up to perform on select dates. A release announcing the shows suggested that “many more shows” are on the horizon.
In the meantime, as they gear up for a pair of Mexico City shows next month, the group will play an Amazon Music Live show on Oct. 30 at 9 p.m. PT, which you can watch live on Amazon Music, Amazon Prime and Twitch.
A general on-sale for all shows will launch on Friday (Oct.31) at 10 a.m. local time, with details available here. Fans can sign up for an artist pre-sale now through Sunday (Oct. 26) at 11:59 PT.
In a lengthy Substack post announcing the shows and the new song, Grohl wrote about finding inspiration for the track while in Japan staring at the majestic, cloud-shrouded Mt. Fuji. “As the clouds slowly clear and life comes into view, there are many reasons to be grateful. And humbled. I know this and I feel this everyday,” he wrote.
“Since our return to the stage in San Luis Obispo five weeks ago, we have been reminded of why we love and are forever devoted to doing this Foo Fighters thing,” he continued. “From reconnecting as a band and staring at a list of 30 years worth of songs to brush off, to reimagining versions with the incredible blessing of the one and only Ilan Rubin behind the drums, to reuniting with our amazing fans and blasting them with everything we’ve got (no matter the size of the venue) because we would not be here without them, we have the most solid core. And the sun is finally rising over the horizon.”
The post also touched on his long friendship with QOTSA singer/guitarist Josh Homme and the many special moments they’ve had together over the past 33 years as they gear up to rock stages together again. “I have shared some of my life’s most rewarding musical moments with my dear friend, Josh. A lifelong bond that goes far beyond the sound we’ve made together,” Grohl wrote. “So it is with great happiness that we can share this next chapter together with his almighty Queens of the Stone Age.”
Then, seemingly teasing that the band has follow up to their 2023 album But Here We Are in the works, Grohl warned fans to “take cover,” adding, “But none of this would be complete without new music to share from Pat [Smear], Nate [Mendel], Chris [Shiflett], Rami {Jaffee], Ilan and I. ‘Asking for a Friend’ is a song for those who have waited patiently in the cold, relying on hope and faith for their horizon to appear. Searching for ‘proof’ when hanging by a wish until the sun shines again. One of many songs to come.”
Check out the Take Cover Tour poster and listen to “Asking for a Friend” below.
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The post “Foo Fighters Storm Back With Bombastic ‘Asking For a Friend’ Single, Announce 2026 North American Stadium Dates” by Gil Kaufman was published on 10/23/2025 by www.billboard.com