Foo Fighters announce new drummer Josh Freese following death of Taylor Hawkins

Foo Fighters have announced Josh Freese will take on the role as the band’s drummer following the death of Taylor Hawkins.
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Foo Fighters have revealed Josh Freese will be their new drummer following the death of Taylor Hawkins. The rock band announced their new drummer during a livestream on Sunday night (May 21).

Over the past few months, many famous names were tipped to be the band’s new drummer including The Darkness’ Rufus Taylor. Foo Fighters appeared to poke fun at the rumours in their livestream ‘Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts’ by having a number of famous drummers appear on the show.

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee and Tool’s Danny Carey appeared on the livestream before the camera panned to Josh Freese, who asked the band “are we gonna get this thing started?”.

The band, made up of Dave Grohl, Chris Shifflet, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee, then launched into a rendition of ‘All My Life’, which allowed Josh Freese to show off his skills before they played current single ‘Rescued.’

Josh Freese has been announced as the new drummer of Foo FightersJosh Freese has been announced as the new drummer of Foo Fighters
Josh Freese has been announced as the new drummer of Foo Fighters

The 50-year-old drummer has previously performed with Sting, Paramore, Lana Del Rey and Guns N’ Roses. In September 2022, Freese joined Foo Fighters on stage at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert for their opening two songs ‘Times Like These’ and ‘All My Life.’

Freese will carry out his first live show with the band since Hawkins’ death in New Hampshire,USA, on May 24.

What happened to Taylor Hawkins?

Hawkins joined Foo Fighters in 1997 following the departure of the band’s previous drummer William Goldsmith. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with them in 2021 by Sir Paul McCartney.

However, on May 25, 2022, Hawkins’ death was announced by the band, in the midst of a festival tour of South America. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” Foo Fighters official account tweeted.

It was later revealed his official cause of death was cardiac arrest and officials stated the drummer had 10 different substances in his system at the time of his death.

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