Ilan Rubin Opens Up About Joining Foo Fighters After Nine Inch Nails Tenure

Sixteen years into a tenure with Nine Inch Nails, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's youngest-ever inductee got a call from Dave Grohl. That call ended one of the longest drumming stints in modern rock and started another.

Speaking on the Go With Elmo podcast with host Elmo Lovano, Rubin offered one of his most candid accounts yet of how a near-two-decade chapter closed and an unlikely new one opened. The interview, published April 5, 2026, covers the logistics and emotions of stepping into one of rock's most closely watched drum chairs since Taylor Hawkins' death in March 2022.

Rubin told Lovano that Grohl reached out when his NIN touring commitments were winding down, signaling that the approach was deliberate rather than a rushed audition process. "I went from a band I'd played with for almost 17 years," Rubin said. "So that was an end of a lengthy, extensive era for me." He described the Foo Fighters organization as "welcoming" and said the fit arrived quickly: it "fits like a glove."

The Foo Fighters officially announced Rubin on July 30, 2025. His live debut came September 14, 2025, at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California, the band's first show in over a year. Grohl introduced him from the stage with characteristic directness: "I finally get the opportunity to say, Ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome… The most badass motherfucker, Ilan Rubin, is playing drums in the Foo Fighters right now."

What makes the transition stranger, and more interesting, is who went the other direction. Josh Freese, who had spent two years filling the Foo Fighters drum chair after Hawkins' passing, was let go in May 2025 with no public explanation. Freese described himself as "shocked and disappointed." Within weeks, Nine Inch Nails confirmed Freese as their returning drummer with a terse social media post: "Let's f***ing go." Rubin had effectively handed the NIN seat back to the man who previously held it.

The move caps a career trajectory that has few parallels in the drumming world. Rubin was playing the Warped Tour at age 11 with his brother Aaron's band F.o.N., joined Welsh band Lostprophets at 17, and was handpicked by Trent Reznor at 20 to sit behind NIN's kit. In 2020, he became the youngest person ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at age 32, as part of Nine Inch Nails. Beyond the drums, he has served in Angels & Airwaves alongside Blink-182's Tom DeLonge and toured with Paramore and Danny Elfman, playing guitar, bass, and keyboards throughout; he also fronts his own solo project, The New Regime.

Dave Grohl has noted that the Foo Fighters have had four drummers across their 30-year history: Grohl himself in the early years, Taylor Hawkins from 1997 until his death, Freese from 2023 to 2025, and now Rubin. The current lineup, comprising Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, and Rubin, is reportedly at work on their 12th studio album, referenced by Billboard as "Your Favorite Toy." Rubin frames the chapter as still new, which means the most significant recording he makes with the Foos is still ahead.