Report: Foo Fighters recruit Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin; Josh Freese reunites with NIN

Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails have reportedly traded drummers. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dave Grohl and company have recruited longtime NIN drummer Ilan Rubin to man the kit after parting ways with Josh Freese in May. THR also reports that Freese is rejoining Trent Reznor‘s band after previously playing with the “Closer” outfit from 2005 to 2008.

Nine Inch Nails seemingly welcomed Freese back in an Instagram Story reading, “Let’s f****** go @joshfreese.”

ABC Audio has reached out to reps for Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails.

Freese joined Foo Fighters in 2023 following the 2022 death of Taylor Hawkins. In the post announcing the end of his Foos tenure, Freese shared that the band told them they decided “to go in a different direction with their drummer.”

“No reason was given,” Freese wrote.

As for Rubin, he first played with Nine Inch Nails from 2008 to 2009 before returning in 2013, and remained the band’s live drummer through the European leg of their Peel It Back world tour, which just concluded in July. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with NIN in 2020.

Rubin also plays in Tom DeLonge‘s Angels & Airwaves project.

Foo Fighters are set to return to the live stage in October for a run of dates in Asia.

Nine Inch Nails’ Peel It Back tour continues with the U.S. leg in August.

Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails have reportedly traded drummers. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dave Grohl and company have recruited longtime NIN drummer Ilan Rubin to man the kit after parting ways with Josh Freese in May. THR also reports that Freese is rejoining Trent Reznor‘s band after previously playing with the “Closer” outfit from 2005 to 2008.

Nine Inch Nails seemingly welcomed Freese back in an Instagram Story reading, “Let’s f****** go @joshfreese.”

ABC Audio has reached out to reps for Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails.

Freese joined Foo Fighters in 2023 following the 2022 death of Taylor Hawkins. In the post announcing the end of his Foos tenure, Freese shared that the band told them they decided “to go in a different direction with their drummer.”

“No reason was given,” Freese wrote.

As for Rubin, he first played with Nine Inch Nails from 2008 to 2009 before returning in 2013, and remained the band’s live drummer through the European leg of their Peel It Back world tour, which just concluded in July. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with NIN in 2020.

Rubin also plays in Tom DeLonge‘s Angels & Airwaves project.

Foo Fighters are set to return to the live stage in October for a run of dates in Asia.

Nine Inch Nails’ Peel It Back tour continues with the U.S. leg in August.