Chris Shiflett

Although best recognized for his guitar work in Foo Fighters, Chris Shiflett has maintained an active presence across multiple Southern California punk and indie outfits while issuing recordings under his own name. He first gained notice as a dependable supporting player through stints with No Use for a Name and Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, then joined Foo Fighters toward the close of the 1990s. Expanding beyond that role, he later stepped forward as a bandleader, issuing two country-tinged albums fronting Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants before delivering his initial solo effort, the 2017 release West Coast Town. Balancing these pursuits with his Foo Fighters schedule, he continued to pursue his rock, punk, and country leanings across the subsequent solo albums Hard Lessons in 2019 and Lost at Sea in 2023.

Born in Santa Barbara, California, Shiflett launched his recording career in the glam punk group Lost Kittenz alongside Steve Sherlock, later founder of Nerf Herder, and Marko DeSantis, known from Sugarcult. He entered No Use for a Name’s lineup in 1995 and remained through the 1999 album More Betterness!, while also being brought in by Swingin’ Utters vocalist Spike Slawson for guitar duties in the cover-focused punk collective Me First & the Gimme Gimmes. Departing No Use for a Name in 1999, he assumed guitar responsibilities in Foo Fighters in place of Franz Stahl, the brief successor to the Germs’ Pat Smear, and first appeared on a Foo Fighters record with 2002’s One by One, solidifying his status as a core member shortly afterward.

Seeking an avenue for his own material, Shiflett established several additional projects, beginning in 2003 with the punk band Jackson United formed alongside his brother Scott Shiflett and Pete Parada, both previously of Face to Face. Following two Jackson United albums, he turned toward sounds outside the punk sphere. His first release under his own name arrived in 2010 as the country-inflected Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants on Le Coq Napoleon. The project returned three years later with All Hat and No Cattle, steering the group deeper into hardcore 1960s honky-tonk terrain. Setting aside the Dead Peasants moniker, he issued his first proper solo album, 2017’s West Coast Town, a California-rooted collection blending driving rock riffs with Bakersfield country elements. He continued in 2019 with Hard Lessons, a second Americana-oriented set still carrying substantial rock energy. All of these personal endeavors occurred alongside his central role in Foo Fighters, who entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. Following the band’s eleventh album, But Here We Are, Shiflett resumed solo activity with the 2023 release Lost at Sea.