Dave Grohl has shared that Foo Fighters found it “really complicated” to continue after the death of Taylor Hawkins, and opened up for the first time about parting ways with Josh Freese.
Hawkins passed away at the age of 50 in March 2022. He was found dead in his hotel room hours before the Foos were scheduled to play a festival in Bogotá, Colombia.
The following year, Freese (A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails) stepped in as touring drummer and continued to perform with the band until his abrupt departure in May 2025.
Since then, Ilan Rubin has taken on the role of sticksman – with him and Freese swapping groups; Rubin left Nine Inch Nails to join Foos, and Freese returned to work with Trent Reznor.
Yesterday (Thursday February 19), Foo Fighters announced their 12th full-length effort ‘Your Favorite Toy’ while sharing its massive title track.
Frontman Grohl also spoke to Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1 about what fans could expect from the project, saying it is stacked with “noisy, loud bangers” that feel like they’re from “the old days”.
@applemusic Dave Grohl of @Foo Fighters tells @Zane Lowe about finding the sound of the band’s forthcoming twelfth album. Watch the full interview now on Apple Music.
He then went on to open up about continuing with the band following the death of Hawkins, and added that not a day goes by that he and his bandmates don’t miss the drummer.
“We had Taylor Hawkins as our drummer for 25 years and, beyond being an amazing drummer, he was this incredible spirit. He was this incredible human being and he was our brother. He was our best friend,” he said. “So, continuing after Taylor was really complicated, not just for us, but for any drummer that was going to come in to like, you know, fill his shoes… you know.”
He continued, adding that the interview happened to be taking place on what would have been Hawkins’ birthday.
“It’s Taylor’s birthday today. And so, we wake up in the morning and everybody just texts about how much we miss him and how the world’s not the same without him, but we still feel him very much,” Grohl continued.
“We always talk about him every f****** day. In everything we do we want to have that energy – we want to have that energy for Taylor.”
The frontman also broke his silence on the departure of Freese from the line-up – a move that the drummer said left him “shocked and disappointed”.
After praising Freese for his ability to work with “everyone from Michael Buble to The Offspring“, Grohl went on to say that they all had a “great time” touring with him for just over a year, before everyone took a step away from the band in 2024.
“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’,” Grohl added, also sharing that the decision “didn’t happen overnight”.
“We called, as a band, all of us called, it wasn’t just me,” he continued. “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.’
“After that, 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.”
Since the sacking, Freese has spoken of life after his exit from the band, saying “no one should feel sorry” for him.
Foos’ new record will arrive on April 24, and marks the follow-up to 2023’s ‘But Here We Are’.
It will feature last year’s ‘Asking For A Friend’, and comes after Grohl had confirmed that a new record was finished in January, with the Foos subsequently sharing some teasers online.
Earlier this month, the group updated their website and posted more previews of new music.
They will head out on the road in the UK and Europe this year for a run of huge stadium shows, and are set to play some North American dates over the summer and autumn.
They’ve announced an Australia and New Zealand leg, too, for 2026 and 2027. Find any remaining tickets here.
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