Josh Freese on Foo Fighters exit: ‘They were good to me, until they weren't’

Josh Freese has chatted again about his exit from Foo Fighters, and by the sounds of it, he’s still scratching his head on the decision.

Speaking in the latest issue of Modern Drummer, Freese was asked whether he’s gained any clarity on why he was fired from the band in May 2025, two years after stepping in following Taylor Hawkins’ death.

Short answer? Not really.

“The Foo Fighters are such a big, mainstream band that everything I say gets taken out of context, reposted, and blown out of proportion,” he said. “I’ve got to be careful about what I say about it. But I’ve got a lot to say about it and I’ve been just trying to figure out how and when, to go about really articulating it.”

Freese admitted, “I have a couple small theories, but I can’t really go into them right now.”

He added that he “really enjoy[ed] the two years I spent with those guys however, and they were good to me… until they weren’t.”

On Dave Grohl, he had nothing but praise. “I loved having Dave as a bandleader. I truly respect him so much as a drummer first and foremost. To me, he’s a drummer first and everything else is second.”

What seems to sting most is how sudden it felt.

“I think I’m a pretty good read on people, and I did not see that coming,” Freese said. “One day it was nothing but laughs… ‘You’re killing it, dude!!!’ And then it was just… over.”

When Freese first announced the split on Instagram, he said the band told him they’d decided “to go in a different direction with their drummer” and that “No reason was given.”

Since then, he’s been back behind the kit with Nine Inch Nails, calling the much-talked-about drummer swap “pure coincidence.”

Meanwhile, Foo Fighters are gearing up for a massive stadium tour, with Grohl hinting recently that they’d be making their way back down under some time soon.