Foo Fighters part ways with Taylor Hawkins replacement Josh Freese

Drummer Josh Freese is no longer part of Foo Fighters.

“The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they’ve decided ‘to go in a different direction with their drummer.’ No reason was given,” Freese revealed Friday on social media.

“Regardless, I enjoyed the past two years with them, both on and off stage, and I support whatever they feel is best for the band. 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. But as most of you know, I’ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands so, I’m fine.”

He teased, “Stay tuned for my ‘Top 10 possible reasons Josh got booted from the Foo Fighters’ list.”

Freese joined the band — behind hits including “Everlong,” “Times Like These,” and “My Hero” — in 2023, following the March 25, 2022 death of 50-year-old drummer Taylor Hawkins, who had been with the band since 1997. Hawkins, who died of cardiac arrest ahead of the group’s scheduled performance at a music festival in Bogotá, Colombia, had himself replaced the original drummer, William Goldsmith.

A representative for the band declined Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment.

The other members of the group — Dave Grohl, Rami Jaffee, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, and Pat Smear — announced the new member in a livestream with a sketch featuring iconic drummers interrupting them during rehearsal at a recording studio. For instance, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith came in to let them know a white Mercedes was blocking him. Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee drops off some eats from P.F. Chang’s.

Eventually, Freese shows up behind the drums and asks if they can just play some music. They broke into their 2002 song “All My Life.”

When he joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, Freese already had experience playing with acts such as Guns N’ Roses, the Offspring, Blink-182, and Nine Inch Nails.

Back in 2009, the artist told EW that playing with big names was just part of the job at that point.

“I work with famous people, but I’m kind of under the radar,” Freese said. “I’m probably famous to the drummer kid that lives down the street from me, but that’s about it.”

His famous friends included Hawkins.

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“Taylor and I both grew up in Orange County…30 mins away from one another but whenever we were in a group full of musicians (usually far away from home somewhere) we’d joke that we were the only 2 guys from OC in the room,” Freese wrote on Instagram in September 2022, after playing in a Hawkins tribute concert. “We always had that funny little bond and he’d always remind me that he was tired of hearing about ‘that other young guy from OC who was already making records and touring’ when he was a teenager.”

The 15-time Grammy winners released their latest album, But Here We Are, in 2023. Freese played on the tour that followed.