In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, Grohl reflected on the history of the band and their decision to move on from Freese. The drummer joined the band in 2023 after the death of previous Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins. It was reported in May 2023 that the band had in fact determined that they would be moving on, according to Freese, at the time there was "no reason given" and the band wanted to "go in a different direction" with their drummer.
Grohl stated that the decision was made as a band as he said "it wasn't just me." “In those six or seven months, as a band, we talked about what to do next, a new direction, and thought, ‘OK, 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," Grohl explained.
Grohl described the conversation with Freese when they decided to move, he said: "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.’”
The lead singer also commented on the band's reasoning to not make an official press release. "We didn’t make a press release, tweet anything or do interviews. We didn’t say anything. 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," Grohl said.
Since his departure from Foo Fighters, Freese has rejoined Nine Inch Nails. He originally broke the news to Instagram with a post captioned, "Lets f-ing go", he continued to explain that leaving NIN in 2008 was one of the "hardest decisions" of his life. “NIN was a band that left me walking off stage every single night thinking, ‘That was incredible. We absolutely crushed it, and it wasn’t just a feeling, it was a certainty. That level of intensity, pride, and satisfaction after each show is something I’ve rarely experienced anywhere else,” Freese explained.
In other news, Foo Fighters released a brand new song just last week! The track 'Your Favorite Toy' is available to stream now, and the album with the same name is set to be released on April 24th. “‘Your Favorite Toy’ really was the key that unlocked the tone and energetic direction of the new album, we stumbled upon it after experimenting with different sounds and dynamics for over a year, and the day it took shape I knew that we had to follow its lead. It was the fuse to the powder keg of songs we wound up recording for this record. It feels new," Grohl said about the new album.
You can listen to their new song here.
