On July 17, 1995, Grohl demoed the hit song for the first time by himself on an 8-track reel-to-reel in the basement of his Seattle home.

[9] During Foo Fighters' appearance on VH1 Storytellers in 2009, Grohl explained that the song was written while watching 1980s movies like Valley Girl.

[16] In 2008, Foo Fighters criticized the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain for using their song at rallies without their permission.

Foo Fighters responded to the incident, saying: "It's frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property.

[18] The band played a stripped-down, acoustic version of the song during an appearance at the end of the 2012 Democratic National Convention,[19] in which McCain's 2008 opponent, Barack Obama, secured the presidential nomination.

[20] On September 3, 2022, Foo Fighters played a tribute concert to their late drummer, Taylor Hawkins, at Wembley Stadium.

[25] According to Far Out, Shane Hawkins' drumming style was "uncannily similar" to that of his father, and the "powerhouse performance of ‘My Hero’ will go down as one of the stadium’s most emotionally charged songs ever witnessed".