Foo Fighters tease 2026 tour with hilarious video poking fun at AI slop
Featuring deepfake incarnations of all six band members
Last updated 17th Sep 2025
Foo Fighters have teased 2026 tour dates with a hilarious video that pokes fun at the all-pervading digital invasion of AI slop.
On Saturday and Monday (13th and 15th September), Foo Fighters made their live return after more than a year away with intimate pop-up shows at Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo and The Observatory in Santa Ana, California.
The two concerts featured the live debut of new Foo Fighters drummer Ilan Rubin, who has replaced the ousted Josh Freese.
Earlier today (17th September), Foo Fighters posted a brilliant one-minute video to YouTube confirming that fans should “stay tuned” as “there’s more to come!!!”
In the video captioned ‘keeping it real’, Foo Fighters mock Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the offset when a computer-generated Dave Grohl complete with synthetic mouth movements tells the camera: “Hey everyone, it’s been a while but I’m happy to announce that Foo Fighters are coming back to bring you that 100% real, raw, human element of rock and roll.”
“I mean with a setlist like this you can’t go wrong,” the six-fingered deepfake Dave says as he holds up a piece of indecipherable random words and squiggles.
A synthetic, glossy, outrageously long-thumbed Nate Mendel then says: “After 30 years of being we’ve realised that the most important to us is that what you see and hear coming from our speakers is the genuine passion of the six, living breathing human beings on stage.”
An artificial incarnation of guitar legend Pat Smear continues: “Because, just as our many heroes before us, at the end of the day, we want you to feel that it’s true.”
The camera then pans out to reveal AI Pat’s three legs.
In front of a static, Coachella-esque crowd, ‘Chris Shiflett’ adds: “So, make no mistake, we have been preparing something special for you,” as a deformed, weird-headed AI figure saunters into the background.
Next, a six-fingered Rami Jaffee plays his keyboard in an empty arena, saying: “Rehearsing tirelessly to bring you our best from the heart.”
The video ends with deepfake Dave introducing new drummer Ilan Rubin, who pummels his 20 drums and 13 cymbals with his nine arms, before the Foo Fighters logo and the words “Stay tuned… there’s more to come!!!” flash on the screen.
Foo Fighters last performed in the UK in June 2024 when they rocked stadiums in Manchester, Glasgow, London, Cardiff and Birmingham.
25 rock legends when they were young:
Mick Jagger
A school photo of a 9-year-old Mick Jagger in 1951 at Wentworth Junior County Primary School in his home town Dartford
Rod Stewart
Roderick David Stewart aged 8 in 1953.
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert Watts – Rolling Stones legend Charlie Watts - aged 2 with his mother Lillian and father Charles in Trafalgar Square in 1943.
Sting
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner – aka Sting – aged 10 at his home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1961.
Ronnie Wood
Ronald David Wood (Ronnie Wood) aged 4 in 1951, taken at his home in Whitehorn Avenue, Yiewsley, West London.
Bob Dylan
A childhood photo of Robert Allen Zimmerman – Bob Dylan – aged 2 in 1943.
Iggy Pop
Punk legend James Newell Osterberg Jr. – Iggy Pop – aged 18 months in 1948.
Paul McCartney
Future Beatles icon James Paul McCartney, nowadays known as Paul, aged 8 in Liverpool in 1950.
Janis Joplin
Late-great rock icon Janis Joplin aged 9 in 1952. She died just 18 years later.
David Bowie
A seven-year-old David Jones, soon to be known as David Bowie, in Bromley, London in 1954.
Neil Young
Feted rocker Neil Young as a young boy, aged 11 in 1956.
Jim Morrison
The Doors' Jim Morrison, aged 15, in his high school yearbook photo in 1958.
Bono
A one-year-old Paul David Hewson – future U2 frontman Bono – at his home in Dublin in 1961.
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad – aka Billy Idol – aged 10 in 1965.
Bruce Springsteen
16-year-old Bruce Springsteen in his high school yearbook photo in 1965.
Chrissie Hynde
The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde aged 17 in her high school yearbook in 1968.
Larry Mullen Jr
U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr aged 13 in 1974.
Freddie Mercury
An eight-month-old Farrokh Bulsara – future Queen frontman Freddie Mercury – at his home in Zanzibar.
Debbie Harry
Blondie's Debbie Harry aged 17 in her high school yearbook photo in 1962.
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich, the son of Danish tennis player Torben Ulrich, accompanies his father to Wimbledon in June 1966. Lars was two-and-a-half at the time.
Tina Turner
17-year-old Anna Mae Bullock, rock icon Tina Turner, in her high school yearbook photo in 1956.
Jack Black
Tenacious D rocker and acting legend, Jack Black, aged 16 in 1985.
Tom Petty
17-year-old Tom Petty as seen in his 1967 Gainesville High School yearbook photo. © Alamy
Elvis Presley
The King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley, aged 5 in 1940.
Jimi Hendrix
A three-year-old Johnny Allen Hendrix with his dad Al in late 1945. When he was four in 1946 – a year after the above photo was taken – Johnny was renamed James 'Jimmy' Marshall Hendrix after his dad and Al's late brother Leon Marshall Hendrix.
John Lydon
The Sex Pistols' John Lydon – aka Johnny Rotten – aged 7 in 1964.
Sid Vicious
Simon John Ritchie - aka future Sex Pistols star Sid Vicious - aged 12 in 1969.
Ian Curtis
A five-year-old Ian Curtis in Macclesfield, Cheshire in 1961.