The Rare Times Rock + Metal Bands Have Swapped Musicians

It’s a pretty rare phenomenon, but there are a few times where rock and metal bands have actually swapped musicians.

The most recent case where this happened was when it was announced that Josh Freese had returned to Nine Inch Nails, and coincidentally, longtime Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin left his gig to join Foo Fighters.

The bands essentially swapped drummers, as Freese was just unexpectedly ousted from Foos earlier this year. It’s unclear whether Freese had any inkling that he would return to Nine Inch Nails at the time, but the announcements of his and Rubin’s new roles came out on the same night.

As strange a situation as this is, it’s not the first time bands have swapped musicians. It’s pretty rare, but we were able to come up with a few other examples of this Freaky Friday situation.

There were times where the swaps were permanent, or at least intended to be, and there were others where they were only meant to serve as a temporary solution to a lineup change.

First, we’ll go into a bit more detail about Freese and Rubin to set the parameters for what constitutes a genuine artist swap, and then we’ll discuss the other times this interesting occurrence has happened.

The Rare Times Rock + Metal Bands Have Swapped Musicians

Following the news of Josh Freese and Ilan Rubin switching places in Nine Inch Nails and Foo Fighters, we look at other times where bands swapped musicians.

Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner