The reports have been confirmed, as Josh Freese has been officially named the new drummer of Foo Fighters.
The band unveiled the drummer yesterday (May 21) during a livestream. Freese was introduced with a comedic intro that featured cameos from Chad Smith (of Red Hot Chili Peppers), Tommy Lee (of Mötley Crüe) and Danny Carey (of Tool).
Freese is a longtime session player who has played with Guns N' Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Paramore and Weezer. Last year, he played with the Foo Fighters at their Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts, and rumours began swirling that he would join full-time after he dropped out of his gigs with Danny Elfman and the Offspring.
Last year, when Freese played with the Foos, he requested to use Taylor Hawkins's drum kit and for it to be set up nearly identically to how the late drummer had it. "Taylor's drums need to be up there and I want to play on his exact setup. I want THAT energy to be up on THAT stage. I want to sweat all over the same drums he was sweating all over every night," he wrote on Instagram. "Don't change a thing."
Hawkins was the drummer of Foo Fighters from 1997 up until his death in 2022 at the age of 50. William Goldsmith was briefly the band's drummer in the '90s, but he left the group on bad terms after Dave Grohl re-recorded his parts on 1997's The Colour and the Shape.
The Foos' new album But Here We Are is out June 2 through Roswell / RCA.
The band unveiled the drummer yesterday (May 21) during a livestream. Freese was introduced with a comedic intro that featured cameos from Chad Smith (of Red Hot Chili Peppers), Tommy Lee (of Mötley Crüe) and Danny Carey (of Tool).
Freese is a longtime session player who has played with Guns N' Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Paramore and Weezer. Last year, he played with the Foo Fighters at their Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts, and rumours began swirling that he would join full-time after he dropped out of his gigs with Danny Elfman and the Offspring.
Last year, when Freese played with the Foos, he requested to use Taylor Hawkins's drum kit and for it to be set up nearly identically to how the late drummer had it. "Taylor's drums need to be up there and I want to play on his exact setup. I want THAT energy to be up on THAT stage. I want to sweat all over the same drums he was sweating all over every night," he wrote on Instagram. "Don't change a thing."
Hawkins was the drummer of Foo Fighters from 1997 up until his death in 2022 at the age of 50. William Goldsmith was briefly the band's drummer in the '90s, but he left the group on bad terms after Dave Grohl re-recorded his parts on 1997's The Colour and the Shape.
The Foos' new album But Here We Are is out June 2 through Roswell / RCA.
