Who is Playing Drums for Foo Fighters Now?

The current drummer for Foo Fighters is Ilan Rubin. He follows Josh Freese, who joined the band in 2023 after the death of Taylor Hawkins in 2022. Rubin is part of the band’s current lineup, while Freese’s performances remain an important part of its return to the stage.

Josh Freese isn’t new to the music scene. With a rich musical background playing alongside bands like The Vandals and A Perfect Circle, his drumming brought a lot to the Foo Fighters’ table. His time with the band belongs to the period before Rubin joined, so older clips of Freese should be understood in that context. The featured photograph on this page shows Freese, rather than the current drummer.

The Band’s Transition

The death of Taylor Hawkins in 2022 sent reverberations through the Foo Fighters and the wider music community, marking a heartrending period of transition for the band. Hawkins was not just a member; his exceptional drumming skills and infectious charisma were integral to the identity and sound of the Foo Fighters.

The band continued making music after Hawkins’ death while also celebrating his life through the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts. The concerts brought the band and Hawkins’ family together with guest musicians. Bringing in another drummer allowed Foo Fighters to return to regular live performances, but it did not erase the songs or performances that Hawkins had helped shape. Those recordings remain a useful starting point for understanding the band’s drum sound.

Introduction of the New Drummer

Josh Freese was introduced as Foo Fighters’ new live drummer during the May 2023 streaming event, Preparing Music for Concerts. He stepped into the role after Hawkins’ death, bringing substantial live and studio experience. The embedded performance is a record of that earlier lineup, rather than an announcement of who plays drums for the band now. Ilan Rubin is the drummer named in the current band lineup.

Freese’s wealth of experience gave him a substantial musical background to bring to the band. Having played alongside various renowned bands and musicians like The Vandals and A Perfect Circle, he brought experience across different styles of rock. That background helps explain why his arrival attracted attention, although it does not tell us the band’s private reasons for choosing him. His Foo Fighters performances can still be enjoyed as part of his wider career.

Josh Freese’s Musical Background

Josh Freese’s musical journey is marked by impressive collaborations, reflecting his versatile talent as a drummer. Before joining Foo Fighters, his drumming prowess was central to notable bands like The Vandals and Devo, allowing him to leave a significant impact on the musical scene, especially punk rock.

Being part of The Vandals, an influential punk rock band, Freese proved his attribute in entertaining audiences with high-energy performances, displaying his skill in complex rhythms and fast-paced beats. His stint with Devo, an eccentric and audacious band, exhibited his adaptability to a diverse range of musical genres.

Through these engagements, Freese not only solidified his reputation in the punk rock world but also demonstrated his capacity to evolve and blend with different music styles. Those qualities were relevant to his time with Foo Fighters, and the performances above preserve that period of his career. They should not be confused with footage of Rubin playing with the current lineup.

Future Expectations for the Band

With Ilan Rubin now on drums, Foo Fighters have moved beyond the lineup shown in the older Freese clips. Rubin’s background includes Nine Inch Nails and Angels & Airwaves, as well as his own project The New Regime. His experience adds another perspective to the band’s drumming styles. For a useful comparison, listen to a complete performance by each drummer rather than judging their playing from a short excerpt.

Some fans questioned Freese’s approach during his early Foo Fighters shows. The criticism reported at the time included comments about the pace of “Everlong” and comparisons with Hawkins’ feel. Those were reactions to particular performances, rather than proof that Freese could not keep time. A faster live tempo and a drummer rushing within a song are different things, and neither claim explains a later lineup decision on its own.

Changing a band member can alter the feel of familiar songs. When comparing Hawkins, Freese and Rubin, listen for the placement of the snare, the space around fills and the relationship between kick and guitar. Use the same song where possible and take the recording date into account. A band’s arrangement or chosen live tempo may have changed along with the person behind the kit.

Responses to a new drummer can include positive, negative and neutral opinions. The reactions to Freese’s early shows belong to that earlier transition, and they should not be presented as a survey of what most fans think today. The most useful reference for a drummer learning the parts is the performance itself: hear the full groove, then compare the fills and transitions with another version.

The band’s current activity includes the album Your Favorite Toy and the Take Cover world tour. Sony’s 2026 album announcement names Rubin alongside Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee. That establishes the lineup more clearly than an older performance clip. For any particular show, check the band’s own announcement, since an archived video or an earlier tour report describes the lineup at the time it was made.

Conclusion

Foo Fighters’ transition after Taylor Hawkins’ death included Josh Freese’s arrival in 2023 and a later change to Ilan Rubin. Freese’s background with bands such as The Vandals and Devo remains relevant to that chapter, but he is not the band’s current drummer. Keep the dates in mind when watching the embedded performances, which document earlier stages of the band and Freese’s career.

Ilan Rubin is the answer for the current lineup, while Hawkins and Freese remain part of the band’s history. The existing recordings let you hear how different drummers approach the same catalogue without treating one performance as the only possible version. If you are learning a Foo Fighters part, choose the studio recording or a specific live performance as your reference, then listen closely to its groove and dynamics.

Josh Freese Featured Image by: Lipservice21, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons