Foo Fighters founder and frontman Dave Grohl and Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin have announced “Hanukkah Sessions,” a series of eight songs written by Jewish artists to be rolled out beginning with the start of the eight-day Festival of Lights at sundown Thursday.
The pair announced the series in a social media post late Wednesday night that begins, “Hi, I’m Greg Kurstin and I’m Jewish,” followed by, “And I’m Dave Grohl. I’m not Jewish, but this year, instead of doing a Christmas song, Greg and I decided to celebrate Hanukkah by recording eight songs by eight famous Jewish artists and releasing one song each night of Hanukkah — for you, so we hope you enjoy,” Grohl said.
With all the mishegas of 2020, @GregKurstin & I were kibbitzing about how we could make Hannukah extra-special this year. Festival of Lights?! How about a festival of tasty LICKS! So hold on to your tuchuses… we’ve got something special coming for your shayna punims.
L’chaim!! pic.twitter.com/baTduQYdBW
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) December 10, 2020
The social media post on the Foo Fighters’ official account, with some questionable Yiddish usage, reads: “With all the mishegas of 2020, @GregKurstin & I were kibbitzing about how we could make Hannukah extra-special this year. Festival of Lights?! How about a festival of tasty LICKS! So hold on to your tuchuses… we’ve got something special coming for your shayna punims. L’chaim!!”
To build anticipation, Grohl and Kurstin did not reveal which songs they’ll be covering, but as Rolling Stone notes, in the past, Foo Fighters have covered Jewish-ish artists like Rush (bassist Geddy Lee is Jewish), Kiss (Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley), and Van Halen (David Lee Roth).
Kurstin is a Grammy-winning producer and musician who has worked extensively with Adele, Beck, Sia, Paul McCartney, Maren Morris, Pink, Maggie Rogers and many others, as well as the Foo Fighters on their 2017 “Concrete and Gold” album.
Foo Fighters, whose new album, “Medicine at Midnight,” is due in February, will also play a Christmas-themed concert by taking part in Amazon Music’s Holiday Plays virtual concert on December 15.