Ilan Rubin dismisses idea of 'drummer swap' in joining Foo Fighters: 'There is no story'

When Ilan Rubin joined Foo Fighters and Josh Freese returned to Nine Inch Nails in 2025, it seemed on the outside like Dave Grohl and Trent Reznor had basically made the band equivalent of a sports trade. But as Rubin sees it, there was no intentional "drummer swap" between the two bands.

"When the news leaked ... it was kind of billed as this drummer swap," Rubin says on the Go with Elmo Lovano podcast. "Now that would imply that Trent and Dave were like, 'Hey, you know what would be a great idea?' ... Which is the dumbest thing."

Rubin had played with NIN for over a decade before joining the Foos, while Freese, who joined Foo Fighters in 2023 following the 2022 death of Taylor Hawkins, played drums in NIN from 2005 to 2008.

Rubin maintains that "there is no story" with him and Freese taking each other's places, and that it was "logical" for NIN to reunite with Freese once he left.

"At some point in time, for whatever reason, Josh was no longer with Foo Fighters," Rubin says. "They dealt with whatever they dealt with, they needed a drummer, and whenever it was getting a little too close for comfort in terms of shows that were coming up in a few months, I was gotten in touch with. As a result of me taking that opportunity, obviously Nine Inch Nails needed a drummer."

Rubin also dismisses the idea that he broke any commitment to NIN in joining Foo Fighters.

"The only thing that kind of really bothered me at the time when that news leaked was that it kinda gave the impression that I just kinda said, 'Oh, this came up, I'm out of here, have fun guys,' which was not the case at all,'" Rubin says. 

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