(Credit: Wikimedia)
Mon 19 May 2025 21:31, UK
After revealing his dismissal from Foo Fighters, drummer Josh Freese has jokingly come up with multiple reasons for why he was let go from Dave Grohl’s group.
Freese had built a stellar reputation with a multitude of different groups before Foo Fighters, working with everyone from Devo to Guns N’ Roses to Nine Inch Nails to The Offspring. He had previously been announced as their drummer following the tragic passing of original drummer Taylor Hawkins.
On May 16th, the drummer said that the news of his firing came as a complete shock to him, given that he had never been asked to leave a band in his long career. Despite stepping down, Freese has said that he holds no ill will towards the band and wishes them all the best as they look for new opportunities with someone else.
However, Freese has had some fun by posting a comical list of potential reasons why he may have been asked to leave on Instagram. Reasons include him trying to incorporate polyrhythms into the band’s sound and suggesting that he promised Noodles of The Offspring that he could join the band alongside Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett.
The rest of the reasons read like a litany of rock and roll cliches for a pampered rockstar, including not going to the studio when “Mercury was in retrograde”, insisting on starting every rehearsal with a “20 minute cowbell sound bath”, and insisting a “Ouija board and nunchucks” be available to him after every show.
There are even a handful of callbacks to the announcement of his position by saying that “the poodle thing was getting to be a bit much”. During their initial announcement of Freese as their new drummer, the band featured many other drummers that could potentially hold his position, which included Danny Carey from Tool, grooming their poodles for them and Tommy Lee buying the group takeaway before practice started. The skit ended with Freese jamming a few songs with the band.
Given his reputation as one of the most highly-regarded session drummers, Freese even poked a bit of fun at his own chops, saying that he could possibly have been fired given the “soulless” element of his metronomic sense of timing.
As of yet, there has been no word from Foo Fighters as to a reason behind them letting Freese go, nor an announcement of anyone to replace him.
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