Foo Fighters announce Josh Freese as new drummer after Taylor Hawkins’ death

Foo Fighters have unveiled their new drummer after the death of their former percussionist Taylor Hawkins: the veteran session musician Josh Freese.

Freese has accrued a long and star-studded list of credits over his three-decade career. The 50-year-old drummer has been a member of Devo since 1996 and the Vandals since 1989. He has also toured with the Offspring, Guns N’ Roses, Danny Elfman, Weezer, Sting, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails and 100 Gecs.

The band revealed the news on Sunday in a tongue-in-cheek livestream titled Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts, which promised “a few surprises”.

Recorded in their studio, the livestream opened with the band teasing the identity of their new drummer by calling in a slew of famous cameos.

Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith made a boisterous entrance – only to complain that someone was blocking his way in the car park. Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee appeared with a food delivery, while Tool’s Danny Carey showed up with a pair of poodles.

A voice then interrupted the proceedings, and the camera cut to an exasperated Freese, who had been waiting off-camera behind a drum kit. “Excuse me!” he shouted. “Could we just, like … play a song?”

The livestream featured an eight-song set, including new tracks from Foo Fighters’ upcoming 11th album, But Here We Are.

In January, the band announced they would remain together and continue performing after the death of Hawkins, who died aged 50 last year while on tour in Colombia.

“Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were,” they wrote in a statement. “And without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward.”

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Freese’s first show with Foo Fighters will take place in New Hampshire on 24 May, the opening leg of a global tour that will stretch until late 2023.

The tour marks the first time the band have performed live since their two memorial concerts for Hawkins last September, where an all-star lineup of musicians including Paul McCartney, Queen and Mark Ronson paid tribute to the late drummer.

Freese himself performed with Foo Fighters at those concerts, playing on Hawkins’ drums.

“I was asked what drums I’d like to use,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “Without hesitation I said, ‘Taylor’s drums need to be up there and I want to play on his exact set-up.’”

No cause of death for Hawkins has been announced, but a toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances in Hawkins’s body, including opioids, marijuana and antidepressants.