Josh Freese talks about the reasons he was let go from Foo Fighters

Two years after being hired to fill the void left by the late Taylor Hawkins, famed rock drummer Josh Freese was let go from Foo Fighers, as per Blabbermouth. Now, in the cover story of the most recent issue of Modern Drummer magazine if he had any idea about the movites of this decision from Foo Fighters in May 2025.

The Foo Fighters are such a big, mainstream band that everything I say gets taken out of context, reposted, and blown out of proportion. People created headlines from one quick, simple comment I made on a podcast not long ago, it’s crazy. I’ve got to be careful about what I say about it. But I’ve got a lot to say about it and I’ve been just trying to figure out how and when, to go about really articulating it.

I have a couple small theories [as to why I was let go], but I can’t really go into them right now. I did really enjoy the two years I spent with those guys however, and they were good to me… until they weren’t. I liked playing with them. And I loved having Dave [Grohl] as a bandleader. I truly respect him so much as a drummer first and foremost. To me, he’s a drummer first and everything else is second. I’ve listened to him on all the great records he’s played drums on more than I’ve listened to any Foo Fighters stuff. It really was cool being in a band where the leader is a phenomenal drummer that you respect… That’s really fun… We basically came from the same era too and could relate to one another

I enjoyed being around those guys, they were generous and good to me… and that’s what makes the whole thing even more of a mystery. I think I’m a pretty good read on people, and I did not see that coming. One day it was nothing but laughs, we’re on stage and Dave’s looking at me every night like, ‘You’re killing it, dude!!!’ And then it was just — over.

Upcoming shows of Nine Inch Nails:

• Feb 13 — Boston, MA — TD Garden
• Feb 14 — Newark, NJ — Prudential Center
• Feb 16 — Montreal, QC — Bell Centre
• Feb 18 — Hamilton, ON — TD Coliseum
• Feb 20 — Columbus, OH — Schottenstein Center
• Feb 22 — Grand Rapids, MI — Van Andel Arena
• Feb 23 — Milwaukee, WI — Fiserv Forum
• Feb 25 — St. Louis, MO — Enterprise Center
• Feb 27 — Tulsa, OK — BOK Center
• Mar 01 — Austin, TX — Moody Center
• Mar 03 — Dallas, TX — American Airlines Center
• Mar 06 — Glendale, AZ — Desert Diamond Arena
• Mar 07 — Las Vegas, NV — MGM Grand Garden Arena
• Mar 09 — San Diego, CA — Pechanga Arena
• Mar 10 — Anaheim, CA — Honda Center
• Mar 13 — Salt Lake City, UT — Delta Center
• Mar 15 — San Francisco, CA — Chase Center
• Mar 16 — Sacramento, CA — Golden 1 Center