Within the spring of 2025, it was introduced that Foo Fighters could be transferring ahead with out drummer Josh Freese.
“The Foo Fighters known as me Monday night time to let me know they’ve determined ‘to go in a special route with their drummer.’ No motive was given,” Freese wrote in an announcement posted to Instagram then. “Regardless, I loved the previous two years with them, each on and off stage, and I assist no matter they really feel is finest for the band.”
Freese first began taking part in with the Foos in 2022 when he was one in every of a number of visitor drummers for tribute live shows held in honor of the Foo Fighters’ late drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Quickly after, he grew to become a everlasting member of the group.
Then in 2024, all the band took a break from touring.
“In these six or seven months, as a band, we talked about what to do subsequent, a brand new route, and thought, ‘OK, let’s name Josh and let him know that we’re going to transfer on with a special drummer,'” Dave Grohl not too long ago defined in an interview with Apple Music 1 (by way of NME), stressing that the selection “did not occur in a single day.”
“We known as, as a band, all of us known as, it wasn’t simply me,” he continued. “Principally, we known as Josh, and have been like, ‘Hey man, that was superior. That was such a blast, thanks a lot, however we’re going to transfer on and discover one other drummer.'”
READ MORE: Underrated Foo Fighters: The Most Neglected Track From Every Album
Just a few months later, it was revealed that longtime 9 Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin would be a part of the Foo Fighters, whereas Freese would return to NIN, a band he’d served as a touring member for between 2005 and 2008.
“Since then, there’s been a number of discuss it,” Grohl mentioned, “however I feel Josh mentioned it finest when he mentioned that he did not really feel our music actually resonated with him, and that is actually necessary.”
Certainly, Freese had beforehand spoken publicly concerning the problem of his place as the brand new drummer after a devastating occasion.
“It wasn’t music that I actually resonated with,” he informed The New York Instances in August of 2025. “I am coming in as Dave Grohl’s drummer, and the man that is supposed to avoid wasting the day after the beloved Taylor Hawkins died,” including that the stress made him really feel “like I needed to be firing on all cylinders on a regular basis.”
How Foo Fighters Continued With out Taylor Hawkins
Hawkins was 50 years outdated when he was discovered unresponsive in a resort room in Bogota, Colombia, the place Foo Fighters have been scheduled to carry out later that night. He was declared useless on the scene and it was later decided to be the results of a drug overdose.
Since then, Grohl says, determining his band’s path hasn’t been simple.
“We had Taylor Hawkins as our drummer for 25 years and, past being an incredible drummer, he was this unbelievable spirit. He was this unbelievable human being and he was our brother. He was our greatest good friend,” he mentioned. “So, persevering with after Taylor was actually difficult, not only for us, however for any drummer that was going to return in to love, you understand, fill his sneakers. … We all the time discuss him each f***ing day. In all the pieces we can we wish to have that power – we wish to have that power for Taylor.”
Foo Fighters are slated to start a stadium tour on Aug. 4 in Toronto.
Foo Fighters Lineup Modifications: A Full Information
Dave Grohl-fronted group has rotated via a number of members through the years.
Gallery Credit score: Jen Austin
