The Foo Fighters were supposed to make Emmys history Sunday night by becoming the first rock group to ever perform at the awards show. However, they turned down the opportunity because Fox wanted them to perform a short version of a song from Sonic Highways.
News of the cut performance first surfaced from frontman Dave Grohl himself, who told TMZ that the network “kicked us off.”
The group later sent a statement to Rolling Stone to confirm that Fox and the Television Academy did ask them to perform a song from Sonic Highways, their HBO docu-series about recording the album of the same name. However, Fox wouldn’t let them play a complete song, so they refused to perform at all.
“The band and the Academy were extremely happy and excited to have Foo Fighters play as the first ever rock band on the Emmys. Fox then refused to allow the band to play a full song from the Emmy-winning Sonic Highways,” the group’s statement read. “That is why the band decided not to perform.”
Reps for Fox and the TV Academy didn’t comment on the issue.
Sonic Highways won two Creative Arts Emmys on Sept. 12 for Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming and Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming. They were among HBO’s 43 Emmy wins this season.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com