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Playing with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones in the new supergroup Them Crooked Vultures is a dream come true for Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl, the singer/dummer tells Rolling Stone in an exclusive Q&A in our next issue.

Check out photos of more supergroups, from Cream to Audioslave.

Grohl’s Zeppelin worship goes all the way back to his teenage years, when he got the first of three Zep-inspired tattoos — he’s got John Bonham’s three-circle Led Zeppelin IV logo tattooed in three places. “I did the first one myself when I was 16,” he says. “I tried to get different colored ink to make it seem pro, but now it looks like someone put a cigarette out on my fucking arm.” (more…)

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When is the right time to release a greatest-hits record? After news broke that Britney Spears would be releasing a retrospective this fall — the 27-year-old’s third hits disc — and that Foo Fighters and Fall Out Boy would be doing the same, fans began arguing the point. Now the Foos’ own Dave Grohl has weighed in on the debate, telling the BBC that collections often feel like “an obituary.” Though the Foo Fighters’ 16-track Greatest Hits is out this week, Grohl reveals the band was asked to do a hits LP earlier in their career — and he refused. “They started asking about four years ago, and we said, ‘Don’t we need some hits?’ ” he said.

Grohl and Co. recorded two brand-new songs for this set, “Wheels” and “Word Forward.” But Grohl argues, “It still seems premature because we’re still a functioning, active band. … It’s like a CliffsNotes version of what we’ve been doing for the last 15 years.” He even quibbled with the album’s track list: “I think there are better songs than some of those.”

Look back at the rise of grunge in photos of Nirvana, Soundgarden and others. (more…)

The video for “Wheels,” the Foo Fighters’ first single off their upcoming best-of collection Greatest Hits, debuted over at MTV.com. Like the band’s clip for “The Pretender,” also directed by Sam Brown, “Wheels” is a low-key affair, with Dave Grohl and the gang simply performing in the studio. It’s a far cry from those fun Foo videos of yore: the faux Mentos commercials and the fever dreams with giant hands and Tenacious D wreaking havoc on an airplane.

“Wheels” rejoins Grohl with the producer who helped thrust his former band into the mainstream, Butch Vig, but their collaboration 18 years later is far removed from anything that would appear on Nevermind. “Wheels” finds the Foo at their most adult contemporary since “Big Me,” a track that seems like it was snatched off Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway. Maybe Grohl is just saving his energy, considering he’ll likely spend the better part of the next few months back behind the drums with his supergroup side project Them Crooked Vultures. (more…)

The Foo Fighters have announced the first leg of their 2008 summer tour, while the band Boston revealed the first date of their first tour since 2004: August 4th at Bethlehem, PA’s Musikfest Riverplace. The first bunch of summer dates for Foo Fighters (along with the remaining dates left on their current tour) are after the jump. (more…)

Following speculation that they wouldn’t attend this year’s Grammys out of respect to the WGA strike, both Foo Fighters and Beyoncé issued statements yesterday confirming that they will attend the February 10th event, regardless of the status of the strike. As both musicians are members of the Screen Actor’s Guild, a brother union that is standing alongside the writers, many questioned whether they would cross the picket line. “Beyoncé, as well as my other artists Solange and Trinitee 5:7, have been asked to participate and will do so. We have an incredible Beyoncé performance that will be announced soon. We wish the Grammys the best,” said Beyoncé’s father/manager Matthew Knowles. “There’s no question that the Grammys are a highlight of every year for the industry and audiences alike, and we’re thrilled that the Foo Fighters will be performing on the show,” said the Foos manager Jon Silva. Dave Grohl also defended his participation in the My Grammy Moment contest, saying that it will generate “opportunities to write, compose, play and study music — skills that absolutely need to be passed on to generations to come.”

John Legend also confirmed his involvement with the event. The singer will play an acoustic concert aboard a Grammys-branded airplane for fifty to sixty winners of a CBS-backed sweepstakes. Winners will fly from New York to Los Angeles for the ceremony, with Legend providing the in-flight entertainment. Meanwhile, the WGA strike may have taken a step towards resolution yesterday as the studios and the Director’s Guild of America came to terms on a new three-year contract, making the dispute with the Writer’s Guild the main focus.

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• Grammy News: Berry Gordy To Be Honored at Special Ceremony, Strike Threatens Show

[Photo: Getty]