Josh Freese is the new Foo Fighters drummer after Taylor Hawkins’ death

In March 2022, stadium rock megastars Foo Fighters suffered the untimely loss of their drummer Taylor Hawkins. Not a household name but a megastar in the drum world, Josh Freese was announced as their new drummer yesterday, May 21. 

With the Foo Fighters themselves boasting Dave Grohl, former Nirvana (and Queens of The Stone Age, Tenacious D and many more) drummer, as their singer and guitarist (and often studio drummer) this is a band with rock and roll calibre.

When they tragically lost Hawkins last year to a drug overdose, they lost another world-leading rock drummer. He had toured with Alanis Morrisette, worked with members of Queen and played live and on recording sessions with assorted rock heroes.

It was announced on Sunday that Josh Freese would be joining Foo Fighters on their upcoming world tour. He can be seen playing with the band in this clip posted on Twitter.

Thanks for joining us. It will be streaming on @Veeps for 72 hours on demand if you missed it: https://t.co/hzz5G9mOKy

We'll see you all soon. pic.twitter.com/c7NATC6lzD

— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) May 21, 2023

Freese is right up there with the best, having played with Guns N’ Roses, Sting, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen and The Offspring and joining the Foo Fighters onstage at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert. He insisted on playing Taylor’s drums with Taylor’s exact set-up at the tribute show.

Many from the world drumming community are very excited about Freese joining the band with Chris Kamrada echoing the sentiments of many drummers on Twitter:

“My biggest drumming inspiration and probably the main reason I didn’t give up when my first band stopped touring. he’s living proof of what it takes to handle playing for so many different respectable artists. well done, foo fighters. #riptaylor“.