Drummer Josh Freese has offered a little insight regarding his firing from Foo Fighters earlier this year.
“I’m coming in as Dave Grohl’s drummer, and the guy that’s supposed to save the day after the beloved Taylor Hawkins died,” Freese explained to The New York Times. The drummer went on that the situation put him in a place where he felt “like I had to be firing on all cylinders all the time.”
“Looking back, it was probably more an issue with their management,” Freese continued, suggesting he didn’t harbor hurt feelings over the way things went down. Still, the drummer did note he wasn’t a perfect fit for Foo Fighters. “It wasn’t music that I really resonated with.”
Freese was abruptly dismissed from the Foos in May. At the time, the drummer said “no reason was given” for the decision. “In my 40 years of drumming professionally, I’ve never been let go from a band, so while I’m not angry — just a bit shocked and disappointed.” Foo Fighters, meanwhile, thanked Freese for his “thunderous wizardry.”
It didn’t take long for Freese to find another gig. In July, he rejoined Nine Inch Nails, with whom he’d previously toured from 2005 to 2008. In a strange twist of fate, longtime Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin simultaneously joined Foo Fighters, meaning the two hugely popular groups essentially traded drummers.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Freese remarked of the swap. “But Ilan’s a phenomenal drummer, a phenomenal musician. He’ll be perfect for the [Foo Fighters] gig.”