Earlier this year, Foo Fighters parted ways with drummer Josh Freese, later announcing Nine Inch Nails’ Ilan Rubin as his replacement. In an ironic twist, the two bands effectively ended up swapping drummers, with Nine Inch Nails calling on Freese to fill the vacancy behind the kit.
This is not Freese’s first stint with Nine Inch Nails. He previously served as the band’s drummer from 2005 to 2008 before stepping away to spend more time with his family.
In a new interview with Consequence, Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor opened up about the drummer swap, revealing new details about the circumstances surrounding Rubin’s exit and Freese’s return to the band.
While early reports indicated that Rubin’s initial plan was to stay with Nine Inch Nails until the end of the year before joining Foo Fighters full-time, Reznor admitted to Consequence that he decided to let Rubin go prior to NIN’s 2025 North American “Peal It Back” tour.
“The reality of that scenario was it was a surprise to me that Ilan was joining the Foo Fighters. Ilan is a great musician and had been a solid guy during his tenure in the band, but it presented a problem in terms of we knew there was another leg of the tour that we’re going to start in February [2026],” Reznor explained. “ And we could either replace him immediately [after the early summer 2025 European leg] or we could replace him after the [late summer 2025 North American] leg, which would mean trying to find someone over the holiday break.”
“As soon as I heard the news, I thought I could call Josh and he could play the show tonight, ’cause there’s no doubt about his ability. And that’s essentially in a shorthand what went down. He was available and willing, and it just made sense on a number of levels,” the frontman continued.
“Being completely honest, we’re adults and we’re professional, but we’re also people with emotional feelings and a sense of camaraderie and intent and purpose. I thought it would feel better to play that last wave of tours with someone that wants to be there, and that’s what went down.”
Freese also recently addressed rejoining Nine Inch Nails in a new interview with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation.”
“As far as the drummer swap thing, it’s funny because it’s just coincidence the way it worked out,” Freese said. “It’s not like there was a purposeful drum swap. And, actually, if Ilan, who was playing with Nine Inch Nails, who joined the band after I left in 2009, if he left Nine Inch Nails to go join — pick a band — Muse, I don’t know, Trent would’ve called me. It’s not like it was an intentional swap. It’s like when Trent needed a drummer, when Ilan split, he was, like, ‘Well, I’m gonna call Freese.’ And he called me and I was, like, ‘Hell yeah.’”
