Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails swap drummers: ‘Let’s f—ing go’

Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails have swapped drummers. 

Just two months after letting go of Josh Freese, the Foos have tapped Nine Inch Nails’ Ilan Rubin to get behind their kit, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed. And, on the same day, Nine Inch Nails confirmed to EW that Freese will replace Rubin and come back as their drummer, completing the switch and returning balance to the world. 

“Let’s f—ing go,” Nine Inch Nails wrote on X, sharing a photo of Freese sitting in a chair with a bounty of Nine Inch Nails memorabilia behind him.

Freese, who performed with the “Closer” rockers from 2005 until 2008, will join the group on their Peel It Back tour, which began in June and is slated to run through September. It is unclear if he is back as a full-time member of Nine Inch Nails or just playing for this tour. 

The musician opened up about rejoining the band in a poignant Instagram post on Thursday. “Leaving Nine Inch Nails at the end of 2008 was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he wrote. “My wife and I were expecting our third child, and I knew I needed to step away from life on the road to be home with my family.”

He went on to explain that performing with Nine Inch Nails always left him feeling an unprecedented “level of intensity, pride, and satisfaction after each show that I’ve rarely experienced” in any other group.

“Now, being back on tour with Trent and the crew — helping them do what they do best night after night — is something I’m incredibly excited about,” he added. “To be part of that energy again feels amazing.”

Freese concluded, “If you get a chance to catch one of these shows over the next six weeks, I promise, they’re going to be absolutely unforgettable, Hope to see you out there.”

Freese originally joined Foo Fighters in May 2023, serving as the successor to their longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins after he died unexpectedly at age 50 in 2022. He announced in May that he’d been informed by the band that they had “decided to go in a different direction with their drummer” and would no longer need his services, leaving him “a bit shocked and disappointed.”

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Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl later thanked all of their past drummers — including Freese — for their contributions to the band in a letter celebrating the 30th anniversary of their self-titled album earlier this month. 

“It should go without saying that without the boundless energy of William Goldsmith, the seasoned wisdom of Franz Stahl, and the thunderous wizardry of Josh Freese, this story would be incomplete,” the singer wrote. “So we extend our heartfelt gratitude for the time, music, and memories that we shared with each of them over the years. Thank you, gentlemen.”

Rubin joined Nine Inch Nails in 2009 following Freese’s original departure from the band and has served as their touring drummer ever since. He was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2020. 

In addition to touring with NIN, Rubin is also the drummer for Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge’s other rock band, Angels & Airwaves, and has worked with Danny Elfman. He joins Foo Fighters as the “My Hero” rockers prepare to embark on a slate of shows in Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, and Mexico this fall.

Earlier this month, the band also dropped the anthemic tune “Today’s Song,” which marked their first new music since the release of 2023’s But Here We Are.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly