juvenile
Dave Grohl Used To Listen To Juvenile’s ‘Back That Azz Up’ Backstage Before Every Foo Fighters Concert
Foo Fighters stopped by The Late Late Show to perform their Medicine At Midnight highlight “Waiting On A War” last night. While they were there, they also took a few minutes to chat with James Corden, and over the course of their conversation, one of Dave Grohl’s excellent old pre-show traditions was revealed.
Playing off the fact that Foo Fighters have referred to Medicine At Midnight as a “party album,” Corden asked some of the band members what music they’d play at a party. Taylor Hawkins jokingly answered, “Just yacht rock, always, all the time.” Rami Jaffee then chimed in with the Bee Gees’ Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, an album that Grohl recently highlighted as a must-listen for children. Chris Shiflett added, “I remember when I first joined the band, we had a big boombox backstage, and before every show, Dave would put on Juvenile, “Back That Azz Up.” As Grohl excitedly recited some of the lyrics and other band members laughed, Shiflett added, “That was our pre-show warm-up.”
Shiflett joined the band in 1999, so while the band was touring in support of that year’s album There Is Nothing Left To Lose, Grohl was probably back stage getting pumped up to the then-brand-new Juvenile song, which is also known as “Back That Thang Up” and features Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne. “Back That Azz Up,” by the way, was actually Wayne’s first-ever single.
Watch the interview above and check out the band’s performance of “Waiting On A War” below.