Christopher Aubrey "Chris" Shiflett (born May 6, 1971) is best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters since June 1999, and the punk rock band No Use for a Name, as well as the punk rock cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. He is the younger brother of musician Scott Shiflett.
Career
Shiflett was the resident lead guitarist for the San Francisco Bay Area punk rock band No Use for a Name, when a friend announced that Guns N' Roses was auditioning for a guitarist. Shiflett asked his friend to instead get him an audition for the Foo Fighters, that after recording There is Nothing Left to Lose as a trio held open auditions to hire another guitarist. Dave Grohl said part of his motivation to hire Shiflett was that he had a history in the underground punk scene, including opening for Grohl's former band Scream as bassist of the group Rat Pack. After being hired, Shiflett played on the tour for There Is Nothing Left to Lose, and all subsequent studio albums starting with One By One. Shiflett has noted several times that one of his favourite songs that he plays with the Foo Fighters is "All My Life" from their fourth studio album One by One. Shiflett has declared that he was afraid of being fired even before he started to play with the band, as previous guitarist Pat Smear had declared interest to rejoin (Smear eventually got back with the band as a touring rhythm guitarist in 2006, rejoining as a full-fledged fifth member in 2010).
Seeing an opportunity that he knew he could not pass up, he quickly parted ways with his former band to audition. His departure was abrupt, as No Use for a Name were just about to head out on tour in support of their then-recent album More Betterness!. He was replaced by Dave Nassie, who had previously contributed to Suicidal Tendencies' lead singer "Cyco" Mike Muir's solo projects. Shiflett began his music career in another band called Lost Kittenz with current members of Sugarcult. He also currently plays in the punk rock cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, his own side-project, Jackson United as well as Viva Death with his brother Scott. For numerous projects, Shiflett performed under the name Jake Jackson. He is also a member of cover band Chevy Metal with Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins. They play songs from classic rock bands such as Black Sabbath, Queen, ZZ Top, and Rolling Stones.
Shiflett, after being in cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, has a tattoo on the inside of his bottom lip with the words "Gimme Gimme".
In 2009, Shiflett played in a band called The Real McCoy, which was founded by Andy McCoy, the guitarist of the former Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks. The band split up after only three gigs.
In 2010 Shiflett created a new country-oriented side project, Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants, releasing a self-titled album in July. In 2011, Shiflett performed at the 2011 Wisconsin protests in Madison. He also performed at the Anti War rally for the A.N.S.W.E.R coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). Shiflett performed at the opening rally at the one and a half mile march from Hollywood and Vine to Hollywood and Highland March 19, 2011.
In 2013, Shiflett announced he would be releasing a new album from his country project, Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants, called All Hat And No Cattle. The album of honky-tonk covers and original tracks came out on July 30, 2013 via SideOneDummy Records.
Since October 2013, Shiflett hosts his own podcast called Walking the Floor with Chris Shiflett. The weekly podcast features interviews with legendary and current country musicians, namely Dwight Yoakam.