Chris Shiflett

Christopher Aubrey "Chris" Shiflett (born May 6, 1971) is best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters since June 1999, and the punk rock band No Use for a Name, as well as the punk rock cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. He is the younger brother of musician Scott Shiflett.

Early life

Shiflett was born in Santa Barbara, California. When Shiflett was 11, he started learning how to play the guitar. He joined his first band by the time he reached the age of 14. The first concert Shiflett attended was a performance by Dio at the Arlington Theater during the tour for their album Holy Diver.

Career

Shiflett was the resident lead guitarist for the San Francisco Bay Area punk rock band No Use for a Name, when a friend announced that Guns N' Roses was auditioning for a guitarist. Shiflett asked his friend to instead get him an audition for the Foo Fighters, that after recording There Is Nothing Left to Lose as a trio held open auditions to hire another guitarist. 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 the Foo Fighters is "All My Life" from their fourth studio album One by One. Shiflett has declared that he was afraid of being fired even before he started to play with the band, as previous guitarist Pat Smear had declared interest to rejoin (Smear eventually got back with the band as a touring rhythm guitarist in 2006, rejoining as a full-fledged fifth member in 2010).