Foo Fighters have revealed that Josh Freese is their new drummer, taking over for Taylor Hawkins, who passed away last year. The news was officially announced in a livestream event that took place on Sunday ahead of Foo Fighters’ extensive run of live dates that are planned for the rest of the year.
At the beginning of the event, the Foo Fighters were goofing off as a procession of famous drummers including Chad Smith, Tommy Lee, and Danny Carey knocked on the door and said hey and then proceeded to exit with sticks in hand. Freese then interrupted and asked if they can play a song, and then the band launched into “All My Life.”
Freese is a prolific session musician, who has played on tracks by Guns N’ Roses, Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle, Puddle Of Mudd, Weezer, Paramore, Sting and many more, and he’s also performed live with many of those groups. The 50-year-old is a close friend of Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins. He was one of a few drummers that played with the band during their tribute shows to Hawkins last year. Freese left his roles in the Offspring and Danny Elfman’s band to join the Foos full-time.
During the stream, the band debuted a new song called “Nothing At All,” and they performed their recent singles “Rescued” and “Under You” live for the first time.
Foo Fighters’ first live date is on May 24 in New Hampshire.
SETLIST:
“All My Life”
“Rescued”
“No Son Of Mine”
“Under You”
“Workin’ For A Livin’” (Huey Lewis And The News Cover)
“The Sky Is A Neighborhood”
“Nothing At All”
“Monkey Wrench”
“Aurora”
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