It pretty much goes without saying—though I’m about to say it right now—that Taylor Hawkins is truly irreplaceable. It’s collective knowledge, which could be part of why Josh Freese, who joined Foo Fighters as their full-time drummer in May 2023 (Hawkins passed away in March 2022), was eventually let go from the band just two years later in May of last year. When Freese announced his departure, he said no reason as to why was given, but now Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl has offered one.
In a new interview on Apple Music 1’s The Zane Lowe Show, Grohl went into detail about the band’s decision to fire Freese, which was made while the band was taking a break back in 2024. According to him, the choice “didn’t happen overnight.”
“In those six or seven months, as a band, we talked about what to do next, a new direction, and thought, ‘Okay, let’s call Josh and let him know that we are going to move on with a different drummer.’
“We called, as a band, all of us called, it wasn’t just me. Basically, we called Josh and were, like, ‘Hey, man, that was awesome. That was such a blast, thank you so much, but we are going to move on and find another drummer.’
“Since then, there’s been a lot of talk about it, but I think Josh said it best when he said that he didn’t feel our music really resonated with him, and that’s really important.”
Of course, filling Taylor’s spot just wouldn’t be truly feasible, since his place in the band transcended far past his incredible drumming abilities. When you’re with someone for that long, no matter the nature of the relationship, no one else could ever hold that space.
“We had Taylor Hawkins as our drummer for 25 years and, beyond being an amazing drummer, he was this incredible spirit. He was this incredible human being and he was our brother. He was our best friend, so continuing after Taylor was really complicated, not just for us, but for any drummer that was going to come in to like, you know, fill his shoes. … We always talk about him every fucking day. In everything we do we want to have that energy — we want to have that energy for Taylor.”
There doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings or dramatic water under the bridge when it comes to Freese’s firing, and honestly, there shouldn’t be. Nothing has been the same, in any way, since Taylor passed. *Tries not to cry*