Foo Fighters Fire Drummer Josh Freese

Originally published by Consequence News

Two years after tapping Josh Freese to replace the late Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters have parted ways with the veteran drummer. The news was broken by Freese himself on his social media accounts.

Freese wrote the following on his Instagram page on Friday (May 16th):

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

The firing happened almost two years to the day the Foos officially hired Freese on May 21st, 2023. While the band toured extensively in 2023 and the first half of 2024, they’ve been dormant since frontman Dave Grohl admitted to having a child outside of his marriage in September 2024.

Just recently, Foo Fighters announced their first concert of 2025, an October 4th show at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Taylor Hawkins died at the age of 50 on March 25th, 2022, at his hotel room in Bogotá, Colombia, while the Foos were on a tour of Latin America. Freese was hired a little more than a year later, as Foo Fighters returned to action after taking time off  following Hawkins’ passing.

Freese is one of the most accomplished drummers in rock music, landing at No. 46 on Consequence’s list of the Best Drummers of All Time. His impressive résumé includes stints with A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, Nine Inch Nails, and other bands. Plus he’s done a ton of high-profile session work.

This is a developing story…