What band is Pat Smear in?

Pat Smear is a guitarist in the Foo Fighters. He joined Dave Grohl's newly formed band in 1994 and has been one of its best-known guitarists, although his membership has included periods of touring, departure, and return.

Smear, born Georg Albert Ruthenberg in Los Angeles in 1959, first became prominent as the co-founder and guitarist of the influential Los Angeles punk band the Germs. He later toured with Nirvana in 1993 and 1994, alongside Dave Grohl, before joining the Foo Fighters after Kurt Cobain's death.

Smear left the Foo Fighters in 1997, largely because of exhaustion from constant touring, but began appearing with them again in 2005. He returned as a full-time member during the making of Wasting Light, released in 2011, and became part of the band's three-guitar lineup. His history with the Germs and Nirvana can make the question confusing, but Foo Fighters is the standard answer when asking which band he is in.