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New Agreement with Foo Fighters Frontman and Them Crooked Vultures/Nirvana Drummer Includes Worldwide Rights to First Four Foo Fighters Albums As Well As Grohl-Era Nirvana Material

Warner/Chappell Music, the global music-publishing arm of Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG), today announced that it has signed a worldwide agreement with seven-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter and recording artist, Dave Grohl. As part of the agreement, Warner/Chappell will administer worldwide publishing rights for the first four records by Grohl’s Foo Fighters, including the band’s classic self-titled debut, the double-platinum The Colour and the Shape, and the Grammy Award-winning million-plus-selling albums There Is Nothing Left to Lose and One By One. Warner/Chappell Music will also administer Grohl’s interest in some of Nirvana's best-known works.

In making the announcement, Scott Francis, President, Warner/Chappell Music and Chairman and CEO, Warner/Chappell Music U.S., said, “Dave is a special songwriter, musician, live performer and recording artist who wears his love for music on his sleeve. He has garnered a massive dedicated fanbase and critical acclaim by writing and recording some of the best rock songs in recent memory. His work with Nirvana, and Foo Fighters, as well as a number of side projects has contributed to some of most influential music in alternative rock and hard rock. We are honored to work with an artist of his caliber and we look forward to a long-standing relationship with him.”

Grohl first came to worldwide attention as a member of the groundbreaking alternative rock group Nirvana, which he joined in 1990 and soon thereafter recorded 1991’s 10X Platinum-certified album, Nevermind. Grohl also played on essential Nirvana releases In Utero (1993) and Best Alternative Music Performance Grammy winner Nirvana: MTV Unplugged in New York (1994).

Following his time with Nirvana, Grohl lent his talents to various projects before founding the Foo Fighters, with whom he serves as lead guitarist and vocalist to this day. The group released its eponymous, Platinum-certified debut album in 1995 followed by 1997’s The Colour and the Shape, which sold more than 2.2 million copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan. The group’s next album, 1999’s There Is Nothing Left to Lose, sold more than 1.3 million albums in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan and earned the band two Grammys, one for Best Rock Album and one for Best Short Form Music Video for “Learn To Fly.” One By One followed in 2002, also selling in excess of one million copies and earning Grammys for both for Best Rock Album and  Best Hard Rock Performance for first single “All My Life.”

Other Foo Fighters catalogue staples include 2005’s double opus In Your Honor, the 2006 live set Skin and Bones, and 2007’s Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, which took home two statuettes at the 2008 Grammy Awards, the same year the Foo Fighters played accompanied by an orchestra conducted by Grohl’s future Them Crooked Vultures bandmate, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. On November 3, 2009, Foo Fighters released Greatest Hits, which remains on the Billboard 200 at present.

In January 2009, Dave Grohl formed Them Crooked Vultures with fellow Warner/Chappell songwriter Joshua Homme, founder of the four-time Grammy-nominated group, Queens of the Stone Age, and legendary instrumentalist, musical director, arranger, songwriter and producer, John Paul Jones. Jones is the former bassist for Led Zeppelin, one of the most influential rock bands of all time, who were recipients of the 2005 Grammy “Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Them Crooked Vultures released its eponymous debut album on November 17, 2009. Them Crooked Vultures reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock, No. 2. on the Alternative and No. 4 on the Rock Albums charts.

About Warner/Chappell Music
Warner/Chappell Music is WMG's award-winning global music publishing company. The Warner/Chappell Music catalog includes standards such as "Happy Birthday To You," "Rhapsody in Blue," "Winter Wonderland," the songs of Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin, as well as the music of Eric Clapton, Green Day, Katy Perry, Led Zeppelin, Lil Wayne, Madonna, Nickelback, Paramore, Red Hot Chili Peppers, T.I. Timbaland, and others. Warner/Chappell Music is a leader in creating innovative strategies for marketing and promoting its songwriters and their music. The company's extensive catalog makes it a natural first stop for A&R executives and record producers, feature film and television production companies, and others looking to record or license some of the world's greatest music.

Source: Warner/Chappell Music