What Nine Inch Nails and Michael Bublé Share: Josh Freese’s Drumming

Excerpt: “Even as he chatted, Freese paused periodically to field phone calls from producers and bands seeking his services. He suddenly had time to fill, following an unexpected turn of events. “You mean getting fired?” he said and chuckled, referring to his shock dismissal from Foo Fighters this past spring, less than two years after joining the group amid considerable fanfare. Freese, who’s known the Foos leader Dave Grohl since Freese was 17, admitted the job had carried a heavier burden than normal. “I’m coming in as Dave Grohl’s drummer, and the guy that’s supposed to save the day after the beloved Taylor Hawkins died,” he said, referring to the band’s drummer since the late ’90s, who died on tour in 2022. Taking over for Hawkins, with whom he was close, left Freese feeling “like I had to be firing on all cylinders all the time.” Playing marathon three-hour-plus concerts with Foo Fighters was physically challenging, but rewarding. Which is why Freese felt blindsided during a band call in May, when Grohl canned him without an explanation. “Looking back, it was probably more an issue with their management,” Freese said, choosing his words carefully. (Foo Fighters declined to comment, though in a recent note to fans Grohl praised Freese’s “thunderous wizardry.”) —— More at the source (gift article)