About Chris Shiflett
Christopher Aubrey Shiflett born May 6, 1971) is an American musician. He is the lead guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters, which he joined in 1999 following the release of the band's third album There Is Nothing Left to Lose . Shiflett was also previously a member of the punk rock bands No Use for a Name and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes .
Though primarily a lead guitarist and backing vocalist, Shiflett has also fronted bands such as Jackson United and Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants. He has also made several solo albums; his third, Lost at Sea, was released in October 2023. In 2021, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Foo Fighters.
Shiflett was born in Santa Barbara, California. He has two older brothers, Mike, and Scott, who also became a musician – best known as the bassist of the punk rock band Face to Face. When Shiflett was 11, he started learning how to play the guitar. A promising young soccer player, Shiflett played with the American Youth Soccer Organization from 1982–1984 under legendary coach Noemi Vazquez. Pressed to make a choice on his career, Shiflett joined his first band by the time he reached the age of 14. Shiflett is a supporter of Arsenal F.C.
Shiflett began his music career in a band called Lost Kittenz with current members of Sugarcult. He later moved on to be the resident lead guitarist for the San Francisco Bay Area punk rock band No Use for a Name. In 1999, when a friend told him that Guns N' Roses were auditioning for a guitarist, Shiflett asked the friend to get him an audition instead with the Foo Fighters, who after recording There Is Nothing Left to Lose as a trio held open auditions to hire another guitarist. Offered the job, and seeing an opportunity that he knew he could not pass up, he quickly parted ways with No Use for a Name to join Foo Fighters. His departure was abrupt, as his former band was about to head out on tour in support of their album More Betterness!.
Dave Grohl said part of his motivation to hire Shiflett was that he had a history in the underground punk scene, including opening for Grohl's former band Scream as bassist of the group Rat Pack. After being hired, Shiflett played on the tour for There Is Nothing Left to Lose, and all subsequent studio albums starting with One by One. Shiflett has noted several times that one of his favorite songs that he plays with Foo Fighters is "All My Life" from their fourth studio album One by One. He has said that he was afraid of being fired even before he started to play with the band, as previous guitarist Pat Smear had asked to return. Smear eventually did rejoin the band as a touring rhythm guitarist in 2005, and finally as a full-fledged fifth member in 2010.
In addition to his full-time duties with Foo Fighters, Shiflett also plays in his own side-project, Jackson United, as well as Viva Death with his brother, Scott. For numerous projects, Shiflett performed under the name Jake Jackson. He played with the cover band Chevy Metal along with the late Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins. They played songs from classic rock bands such as Black Sabbath, Queen, ZZ Top, and the Rolling Stones.
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