Nirvana and Foo Fighters Albums in Order: 16 Records, One Route, a Two-Person Debut

Nirvana and Foo Fighters Albums in Order: 16 Records on One Route, 1989 to 2026

The Nirvana and Foo Fighters albums in order run from Bleach in 1989 to Your Favorite Toy in 2026, sixteen records across 37 years, drawn as one continuous route rather than two separate prints. 83 credited musicians are drawn as lines through the records they played on, and 66 of them appear on exactly one record.

The 16 Nirvana and Foo Fighters albums in order, 1989 to 2026

1. Bleach (1989), Nirvana
2. Nevermind (1991), Nirvana
3. In Utero (1993), Nirvana
4. Foo Fighters (1995)
5. The Colour and the Shape (1997)
6. There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999)
7. One by One (2002)
8. In Your Honor (2005)
9. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007)
10. Wasting Light (2011)
11. Sonic Highways (2014)
12. Concrete and Gold (2017)
13. Medicine at Midnight (February 2021)
14. Hail Satin (July 2021), as the Dee Gees
15. But Here We Are (2023)
16. Your Favorite Toy (2026)

Fifteen of the sixteen are studio albums by one band or the other. Hail Satin is the exception, a Bee Gees and Andy Gibb covers record released as the Dee Gees, and it is on the map because the covers were recorded for the record rather than lifted from a stage. Live albums and compilations are left off by editorial rule.

Dave Grohl Is on Fifteen of the Sixteen, and the One He Misses Is the First

Grohl holds a credit on every column except Bleach, which was made before he joined Nirvana. That single absence at the far left is the most useful thing on the print, because it shows the route starting without the man who ends up carrying it.

Behind him, Nate Mendel has twelve consecutive credits from 1997 to 2026, Chris Shiflett ten consecutive from 2002, Rami Jaffee nine from 2005, Pat Smear ten with a gap in the middle, and Taylor Hawkins nine ending in July 2021.

Only Three Names Cross From the Nirvana Columns Into the Foo Fighters Ones

Grohl is the obvious one. Pat Smear is the second, credited on In Utero in 1993 for rhythm guitar and backing vocals on live tracks. The third is Krist Novoselic, and his crossing is the one nobody expects.

Novoselic plays bass on Bleach, Nevermind and In Utero, credited as "Chris Novoselic" on the first two. He then has no credit at all until Wasting Light in 2011, where he plays bass and accordion on "I Should Have Known". Eighteen years sit between his third station and his fourth, and it is his only line on the Foo Fighters side of the sheet. Everyone else stops at the border: Chad Channing, Dale Crover, Kirk Canning, Kera Schaley and Lori Goldston hold Nirvana credits and no Foo Fighters credits at all.

From Two Musicians in 1995 to Twenty-Six in 2014

The 1995 debut is the narrowest station on the sheet. Grohl is credited with vocals, guitars, bass guitar and drums, and the only other name in the column is Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, with additional guitar on "X-Static". Two names, and that is the entire cast. Neither Smear nor Mendel holds a credit until The Colour and the Shape in 1997, which jumps to eight.

Album	Year	Credited musicians	One credit from that column
Bleach	1989	4	Dale Crover, drums on three tracks only
Nevermind	1991	5	Kirk Canning, cello on "Something in the Way"
In Utero	1993	6	Pat Smear's first credit anywhere on the map
Foo Fighters	1995	2	Greg Dulli, additional guitar on "X-Static"
The Colour and the Shape	1997	8	Louise Post, uncredited backing vocals on "Everlong"
There Is Nothing Left to Lose	1999	3	Taylor Hawkins' first album credit
One by One	2002	6	Brian May, guitar on "Tired of You"
In Your Honor	2005	12	John Paul Jones, piano on "Miracle" and mandolin on "Another Round"
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace	2007	12	Oliver Allgood, lute on "Long Road to Ruin"
Wasting Light	2011	12	Krist Novoselic, bass and accordion on "I Should Have Known"
Sonic Highways	2014	26	Joe Walsh, lead guitar on "Outside"
Concrete and Gold	2017	19	Paul McCartney, drums on track 9
Medicine at Midnight	February 2021	17	Omar Hakim, percussion
Hail Satin, as the Dee Gees	July 2021	11	Violet Grohl, background vocals
But Here We Are	2023	6	Rami Jaffee, keyboards
Your Favorite Toy	2026	7	Ilan Rubin, drums

There Is Nothing Left to Lose in 1999 is down to three people: Grohl, Nate Mendel and Taylor Hawkins. Fifteen years later Sonic Highways carries twenty-six. That swing from three to twenty-six and back down to seven is the one thing a tube map can draw that a list of album titles cannot.

Brian May, John Paul Jones and Paul McCartney Are All on Foo Fighters Albums

Brian May plays guitar on "Tired of You" on One by One in 2002. In Your Honor in 2005 has John Paul Jones on piano and mandolin, Norah Jones singing and playing piano on "Virginia Moon", and Josh Homme on rhythm guitar on "Razor".

Sonic Highways is the crowded one, and it is why the A1 exists. Joe Walsh, Gary Clark Jr., Zac Brown, Rick Nielsen and Ben Gibbard all hold credits on it, with Tony Visconti arranging strings on "I Am a River".

Concrete and Gold in 2017 hides the best one. Paul McCartney is credited with drums on track 9, and Justin Timberlake sings background vocals on track 3.

Butch Vig Is on This Map Once, and Not for Producing Nevermind

My rule for these maps is that producing a record does not earn you a line, playing on it does. Butch Vig produced Nevermind in 1991, holds no instrument credit on it, and so appears nowhere near the 1991 column.

His one appearance on the whole print comes twenty years later, on Wasting Light in 2011, for percussion on "Back & Forth". Steve Albini, who recorded In Utero, holds no playing credit in my grid and has no line anywhere. The rule cuts the other way too: Nick Raskulinecz produced In Your Honor and played double bass on "On the Mend", so he is drawn in.

Kurt Cobain's Three Columns, and Taylor Hawkins' Last One

Kurt Cobain holds three album credits: Bleach, Nevermind and In Utero. He is credited as "Kurdt Kobain" on the first two, and on In Utero for guitar, vocals, art direction, design and photography. He died in 1994, and the next column along is the 1995 debut with two people on it.

Taylor Hawkins first appears in 1999 and holds a credit on every release up to Hail Satin in July 2021, nine stations in a row. He died in 2022, and But Here We Are in 2023 is the first Foo Fighters album since The Colour and the Shape in 1997 to carry no Hawkins credit. Ilan Rubin takes the drum chair on Your Favorite Toy, where Harper Grohl sings backing vocals on the title track and her sister Violet is credited on the three records before it.

Sizes

The map is sold in three metric sizes. A3 is 420 x 297 mm, A2 is 594 x 420 mm and A1 is 841 x 594 mm, every size unframed or in a black wood frame. Black is the only frame colour. There are also three inch formats, 16 x 12 in, 24 x 18 in and 36 x 24 in, which are separate formats rather than conversions of the metric sheets, priced the same way.

Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm acid-free matte fine art paper. A1 is the one to pick if the recipient will stand and read it, because the Sonic Highways column alone carries twenty-six names.

One Route or Two Prints

I also sell a Foo Fighters discography art print, which begins at the 1995 debut and stays with that band. Buy the combined route for someone who arrived at Foo Fighters through Nirvana, and the standalone map for someone who came the other way round.

Related Music Maps

If it is the Foo Fighters side that matters, Foo Fighters albums in order, all 12 studio albums covers that catalogue on its own. The drum chair on this route passes from Chad Channing to Dave Grohl to Taylor Hawkins to Ilan Rubin, which is the pattern behind which bands have had the most drummers.

From the same stretch of the 1990s there is the Red Hot Chili Peppers discography art print and the R.E.M. discography art print, and the rest are in the music wall art prints collection.

Nirvana and Foo Fighters Albums in Order: Questions Worth Settling

Does the map cover Nirvana albums or only Foo Fighters ones?

Both. Bleach, Nevermind and In Utero are the first three stations, and the route runs straight on into the Foo Fighters records without a break.

How many studio albums did Foo Fighters make?

Twelve of the thirteen Foo Fighters columns on this map are studio albums, from the 1995 debut to Your Favorite Toy in 2026. The thirteenth is Hail Satin, the 2021 covers record released as the Dee Gees. Nirvana's three studio albums sit in front of them.

Does Krist Novoselic appear on any Foo Fighters record?

He does, exactly once. Novoselic plays bass and accordion on "I Should Have Known" on Wasting Light in 2011, eighteen years after his last Nirvana credit.

Are producers and engineers included?

Only when the credits also show them playing or singing. That is why Butch Vig has one station and not two, and why Steve Albini has none at all.

What is not on the map?

Live albums and compilations are left off, so there is no Unplugged in New York, no From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, no Nirvana singles collection and no Foo Fighters greatest hits. Anything released after the artwork was drawn is not on it either, so anyone hoping to see the live catalogue should know that before ordering.

Buying It as a Gift

A1 in a black wood frame gets hung the same week it is opened. If you are buying for someone whose favourite band you are not sure of, a gift card for music fans lets them pick the map themselves.