{"id":281228,"date":"2026-02-12T23:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T23:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/281228\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T23:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T23:16:10","slug":"ive-got-to-be-careful-about-what-i-say-about-it-but-ive-got-a-lot-to-say-superstar-drummer-josh-freese-on-his-enforced-mystery-exit-from-foo-fighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/281228\/","title":{"rendered":"“I’ve got to be careful about what I say about it. But I’ve got a lot to say.” Superstar drummer Josh Freese on his enforced “mystery” exit from Foo Fighters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Freese has reflected on his surprise firing from Foo Fighters<\/a>, while admitting that he has to be “careful” about what he reveals about his enforced exit.<\/p>\n

The 53-year-old Orlando-born drummer admitted last year that he was “shocked and disappointed” to be told that his services were no longer required by Dave Grohl’s band, two years after he was recruited<\/a> to replace the late Taylor Hawkins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sharing the news on Instagram, he wrote, “The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they\u2019ve decided \u2018to go in a different direction with their drummer\u2019. 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.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my 40 years of drumming professionally, I\u2019ve never been let go from a band, so while I\u2019m not angry \u2013 I\u2019m shocked and disappointed. But as most of you know I\u2019ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands so I\u2019m fine. Stay tuned for my \u2018top 10 possible reasons Josh got booted from the Foo Fighters<\/a>\u2019 list.”<\/p>\n

In a new interview with Modern Drummer<\/a>, Freese chose not to divulge his personal theories as to why he was let go in May last year.<\/p>\n

“The Foo Fighters are such a big, mainstream band that everything I say gets taken out of context, reposted, and blown out of proportion,” he says, warily. “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.<\/p>\n

“I have a couple small theories [as to why I was let go],” he continues, “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\u2026 until they weren’t.”<\/p>\n

Freese went on to expression his admiration and respect for Dave Grohl as a drummer, and adds, “I loved having Dave as a bandleader.”<\/p>\n

“I enjoyed being around those guys,” he continues, “they were generous and good to me\u2026 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.”<\/p>\n

Freese, who has also played with The Vandals, Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a>, A Perfect Circle and more, is now playing once again with Nine Inch Nails, filling the vacancy left when former drummer Ilan Rubin took his spot in the Foo Fighters.<\/p>\n

Dave Grohl’s band will play a couple of US festivals in May before embarking upon a European tour in the summer.<\/p>\n

The latest news, features and interviews direct to your inbox, from the global home of alternative music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Freese has reflected on his surprise firing from Foo Fighters, while admitting that he has to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-281228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}