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Foo Fighters' drummer Josh Freese payed tribute to the band's former drummer, Taylor Hawkins, amid expressing his gratitude for one full year with The Foos. Hawkins tragically passed away in March 2022, and news of a replacement drummer did not surface until May of 2023. Tuesday, May 21st, marked Freese's first trip around the sun with the legendary band, and while it was very thrilling to join the hitmakers, the anniversary is bittersweet for obvious reasons. The drummer posted three clips from his first publicly-released Foo Fighters rehearsal to commemorate the special occasion.
"A year ago today this aired and I got to stop keeping quiet about what had been referred to as the worst kept secret in the music business' at the time (though I thought we did a pretty good job on our end.) @foofighters released an hour long special of us playing some songs at rehearsal.
He continued:
"I love the way it came out and am proud of it. I joked that all we really needed was "All My Life" and then move on (because it's so god**** good.) That being said, I continue to miss Taylor as does the band, his family, friends and the rest of the world. We also continue to try and make the most of the situation by moving forward and doing what we love doing....playing music, honoring Taylor and staying positive."
Freese sat down with Rick Beato last month to describe how he felt the moment Dave Grohl asked him to join the band after their nearly yearlong hiatus.
"We recorded a bunch of stuff. And I played drums, and I’m really happy with the way it sounds. [I’m] really excited about it… And we had the drummer talk. And we want you to be the guy," Grohl beamed on the other end of the phone call, and the rest was history!
The "Learn To Fly" artists are slated to play a handful of shows across Europe through June and will return to the U.S. in July.
Happy Foo Fighters anniversary, Josh!