[SportsCenter da-na-na, da-na-na bumper music plays]: Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails have inked a trade that has sent shockwaves through the Gen-X Rocker League: Josh Freese, who was recently cut from the Dave Grohl-led Foos squad after a two-season run, will return to his old post alongside Trent Reznor in Nine Inch Nails, while Ilan Rubin, who has played drums for NIN since Freese’s initial departure in 2008, has signed on as the new starting drummer for Foo Fighters.
The seeds of the blockbuster deal were planted back in the spring of 2025 when Josh Freese took to social media to announce that he had been fired by Foo Fighters as the band prepared to mount its first shows in nearly a year. In a social media post on May 18th captioned, “Well, there it is,” Freese explained, “The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they’ve decided ‘to go in a different direction with their drummer.’ No reason was given. Regardless, I enjoyed the past two years with them, both on and off stage, and I support whatever they feel is best for the band. … In my 40 years of drumming professionally, I’ve never been let go from a band, so … I’m not angry—just a bit shocked and disappointed. But as most of you know I’ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands so, I’m fine. Stay tuned for my ‘Top 10 possible reasons Josh got booted from the Foo Fighters’ list.”
Related: Top 10 Possible Reasons Why Josh Freese Got Booted From The Foo Fighters, Via Josh Freese
Freese, whose prolific résumé as a touring drummer and session player includes Devo, The Vandals, Guns N’ Roses, Weezer, Sublime with Rome, Sting, and many more, was on tour with A Perfect Circle at the time. His bandmates helped him soften the blow with a thoughtful gift: a Ouija board, a set of nunchucks, and a list of their own: “10 Reasons Why We Want Josh Freese on Tour Forever.”
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Then, on Wednesday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed in an exclusive report that Foo Fighters were bringing on Nine Inch Nails’ Ilan Rubin—who is also a member of Angels & Airwaves, has worked with Danny Elfman, and became the youngest-ever Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee as a member of NIN in 2020. Of note, his Rock Hall induction actually preceded the induction of his new band, which got the nod the following year. The report added, “It’s unclear if his role will be permanent or just for touring, as the band has shows starting in October in Jakarta, Singapore and Mexico City.”
In the same report, THR cited a representative for the band in confirming that Josh Freese had signed back on with Nine Inch Nails to replace the exiting Rubin. As THR added, “The band subsequently shared a picture of Freese and tagged the drummer in an Instagram story, writing ‘let’s [expletive] go.’ … According to a source, Rubin had committed to Nine Inch Nails through this year and informed band frontman Trent Reznor last week that he had ‘accepted a job with another band.’ A rep for the Foo Fighters declined to comment.”
Josh Freese shared a screenshot of Nine Inch Nails’ Instagram story on his own page along with a reflection on the new yet familiar chapter: “Leaving Nine Inch Nails at the end of 2008 was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” he wrote. “My wife and I were expecting our third child, and I knew I needed to step away from life on the road to be home with family.”
He continued, “NIN was a band that left me walking off stage every single night thinking, ‘That was incredible. We absolutely crushed it.’ And it wasn’t just a feeling, it was a certainty. That level of intensity, pride, and satisfaction after each show is something I’ve rarely experienced anywhere else.”
Freese and Nine Inch Nails will aim to reignite that intensity when they kick off their six-week U.S. Peel It Back arena tour next week. Find a list of upcoming dates and grab tickets here.
“Now, being back on tour with Trent and the crew—helping them do what they do best night after night—is something I’m incredibly excited about. To be part of that energy again feels amazing. If you ever get a chance to catch one of these shows over the next six weeks, I promise, they’re going to be absolutely unforgettable.”
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The Foo Fighters/Nine Inch Nails drummer trade is virtually unprecedented—especially among such heavyweights in the Gen-X Rocker League, an organization we made up—but it’s far from the only bizarre “band splits with drummer” storyline in recent months. For a rundown of the many strange band/drummer breakup sagas this year—a list that includes Primus, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, Pearl Jam, Umphrey’s McGee, and more. We’ve been chronicling the various storylines here in case you need a refresher.