Foo Fighters release punk cover song that was recorded across three decades

The American rock icons offer their own take on track ‘I Don’t Wanna Hear It’

Foo Fighters have released a cover of Minor Threat’s punk anthem “I Don’t Wanna Hear It,” which has been in production for 30 years.

According to the band’s YouTube, the instrumentals were recorded in 1995, while lead singer Dave Grohl finalised the vocals earlier this year.

The 80-second track has been released as part of the band’s 30th-anniversary celebrations, and the accompanying music video features pictures of the band from the last three decades.

I Don’t Wanna Hear It was originally released in 1981 as part of Minor Threat’s eponymous EP.

Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and his daughter Violet (Getty)

Active between 1980-83, Minor Threat had a profound impact on hardcore music, inspiring the “straight edge” movement - a subculture whose followers refrain from drinking alcohol, taking drugs and smoking tobacco.

Grohl, the former Nirvana drummer, is known to be a fan of Minor Threat’s Ian MacKaye, who later became the frontman of Fugazi.

According to NME, Grohl is believed to have sent a letter to MacKaye in 1983 when he was 14.

It reads: “Good thrash so I was wondering if you could give me some numbers of people to get in touch with. It would help. Thanx. David Grohl.”

Look what my hero Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi) just found: a letter I wrote to him when I was 14! Haha! pic.twitter.com/Ak8gxZz5m6

— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) May 28, 2015

Grohl included his landline number at the bottom of the letter in the hope that MacKaye would reach out to him, but only between the hours of 3-10pm.

Speaking to NME in 2015, Grohl said: “Ian MacKaye is a meticulous collector. If you go to his house, he has everything—all of the little old four-track tapes from, like, Minor Threat and Bad Brains. He has everything.

“He sure as s**t didn’t keep it because he thought something was going to happen.”

The cover marks the band’s first release since their album But Here We Are (2023).

Foo Fighters are set to return to the stage in October, this time without the assistance of drummer Josh Freese, who took over from the late Taylor Hawkins.

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Freese was dismissed from the band for “no reason” in May 2025.

On his Instagram, the former Devo band member comically listed different reasons why he was “booted” from Foo Fighters, one of which being his inability to name more than “one Fugazi song”.