Foo Fighters made the interesting choice of letting drummer Josh Freese go recently. He had replaced Taylor Hawkins after Hawkins' untimely death, and Freese was not new to professional drumming. He had done so for four decades and seemed happy to be a part of the band.
The move could have been made because, after a self-imposed hiatus, maybe the band is ready to start recording a new album. Dave Grohl might want a long-term drummer to be hired. Though he often plays the drums on studio albums, he also plays the guitar and sings. Grohl is really the Foos, after all.
Freese said he received a late-night call from the band letting him know that he had been fired. No reason was given. He had been with the group for two years, so maybe an answer was owed, but the music world works differently than the normal universe.
Former Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese gives 10 potential reasons for his termination
Instead, Freese was forced to either come up with his own ideas of what went wrong or borrow from people commenting on social media. To rationalize his termination, the drummer posted 10 reasons why he might have been forced out on Instagram.
There is little attempt to be serious, and that only shows that Freese is a good guy. He could have gone to a media outlet and complained loudly about the band. He didn't He turned the situation into a humor-filled one. We should also be so classy.
The ten "reasons" given:
- 10. Once whistled "My Hero" for a week solid on tour
- 9. Could only name one Fugazi song
- 8. Two words: polyrhythms
- 7. Metronome-like precision behind the kit deemed "soulless"
- 6. Demanded starting every rehearsal with a 20 minute cowbell sound bath
- 5. Never even once tried growing a beard
- 4. Didn't show up to studio because Mercury was in retrograde
- 3. Promised Noodles he could be 4th guitarist
- 2. Refused to perform unless he was guaranteed a Ouija board and nunchucks after every show
- 1. The whole poodle thing was getting to be a bit much
Number six wouldn't have been a bad thing, though. To channel Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live, we all have a fever, and the only cure is more cowbell.