Jason Merritt/Getty (2)
NEED TO KNOW
Dave Grohl shared what really happened when the Foo Fighters separated from drummer Josh Freese in a recent interview
Freese, who was fired in May 2025, replaced longtime band member Taylor Hawkins after his death
"Continuing on after Taylor was really complicated, not just for us, but for any drummer that was going to come in to fill his shoes," Grohl said
Dave Grohlshared what really happened when theFoo Fightersseparated from drummerJosh Freese, who replaced longtime band memberTaylor Hawkins after his death.
The frontman, 57, looked back on parting ways with the drummer in a new interview on Apple Music'sThe Zane Lowe Showpegged to the band's upcoming album,Your Favorite Toy.
Freese joined the Foo Fighters as their drummer in May 2023, about one year after Hawkins died. He announced in May 2025 that he had been let go by the band and was feeling "just a bit shocked and disappointed."
Grohl admitted in the interview that Freese had big shoes to fill. "We had Taylor Hawkins as our drummer for 25 years, and beyond being an amazing drummer, he was this incredible spirit. He was this incredible human being, and he was our brother. He was our best friend."
Gary Miller/Getty
"Continuing on after Taylor was really complicated, not just for us, but for any drummer that was going to come in to fill his shoes. With Josh Freese, Josh is a consummate professional. He has a storied career of playing with everyone fromMichael Bubléto The Offspring. I mean, he's 1000s of studio recordings," the singer continued.
Grohl said Freese went on tour with the Foo Fighters and "we had such a blast, we had a great time."
"It was like a year and a half of touring, and the shows were great," he added.
Elizabeth Miranda
After the tour, the band took a break for about seven months and had conversations about their next moves. At the end of one conversation, the band members decided, "Let's call Josh and let him know that we're gonna move on with a different drummer."
Advertisement
Grohl said the band called Freese and said, "Hey, man, that was awesome. That was such a blast. Thank you so much. But we're going to move on and find another drummer."
"After that, we didn't make a press release or tweet anything, or do interviews. We didn't say anything," he said. "Since then, there's been a lot of talk about it, but I think Josh said it best when he was like, you know, he didn't feel our music really resonated with him, and that's really important, right?"
Freese is, once again, playing with Nine Inch Nails after first joining the band in 2005. Meanwhile, the Foo Fightershave brought on Ilan Rubin, known for his work with Nine Inch Nails andParamore, as their drummer.
"It's like we feel like a band again, man," Grohl said of Rubin's contributions.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE'sfree daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Marcelo Hernandez/Getty
Elsewhere in the interview, the "Everlong" singer spoke of Hawkins' lasting legacy.
"We wake up in the morning and everybody just texts about how much we miss him and how the world's not the same without him, but we still feel him very much. We always talk about him every f---ing day," he said.
Read the original article onPeople
