Late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins is still part of the band, three of his former colleagues agreed.
In a new interview with The Guardian, guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett and bassist Nate Mendel said Hawkins — who died in 2022 at the age of 50 — made such a seismic impact on the band that he’s effectively still with them.
“It was weird Taylor wasn’t there; super weird that he was there,” Smear said of the recording sessions for Foo Fighters’ upcoming album Your Favorite Toy, adding that Hawkins was “manifested in his absence.”
Mendel said Hawkins is “part of the band still … and he made an imprint early on that still sticks with how we are as a band. A conversation that went something like: Hey, what if we don’t suck anymore?”
READ MORE: Underrated Foo Fighters: The Most Overlooked Song From Each Album
How Taylor Hawkins Helped Foo Fighters ‘Embrace That Classic Rock Thing’
Shiflett explained that Hawkins’ addition to the band allowed Dave Grohl to embrace his frontman status and let Foo Fighters blossom into the titanic rock band they are today.
“It was his idea: ‘We have to be a tight unit so Dave can be the guy out front, and we’re the ones holding it down,’” the guitarist said. “Taylor made Dave feel OK about being a frontman leading the show.”
He continued: “Even when I joined the band [in 1999], there was still that residue of ’90s indie-rock guilt about success. Like when we did our first arena tour: should we be doing this? Taylor was like: ‘Fuck yeah, we should! We need bigger lights. We’re playing London? Let’s get Brian May to play a song with us. Let’s embrace that classic rock thing.’”
What Josh Freese and Ilan Rubin Did for Foo Fighters
Following Hawkins’ death, Foo Fighters quickly recruited drummer Josh Freese, who toured with them from 2023 until his abrupt dismissal in mid-2025. Freese then rejoined Nine Inch Nails (with whom he’d previously played from 2005 to 2008), while NIN drummer Ilan Rubin migrated to Foo Fighters.
Rubin proved to be the perfect addition to the lineup, Smear explained. “As soon as we got Ilan, I was looking at Dave and thinking, ‘Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen him genuinely happy in a year.'”
READ MORE: 11 Rock Bands That Got Rid of Their Drummers in 2025
Asked if it’s true that Freese wasn’t told why he’d been fired, Mendel replied: “Yeah. We made a decision that it was best for all parties. To get into the personal details [with Freese], of why that didn’t necessarily sync up, just didn’t seem like it was going to benefit anybody. Some things are OK to be like: this is what’s best for us, and we’re going in a different direction.”
Still, Mendel hailed Freese for “coming into a situation and doing exactly what needs to be done musically to make it work” in terms of keeping the band together after Hawkins’ death.
Foo Fighters will release Your Favorite Toy on April 24.
See how we’ve ranked every Foo Fighters album below:
Foo Fighters Albums Ranked
From the one-man-band debut to their sprawling, chart-topping classics, a look at the studio releases by Dave Grohl and band.
Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin
