For what seemed like the first time in his career, Dave Grohl‘s “nicest guy in rock” status took a major hit when he revealed in 2024 he’d fathered a child outside his marriage. After retreating from the public eye and canceling shows, Dave Grohl eventually returned in 2025 to rev up the Foo Fighters machine again, with a few surprises along the way.
One such surprise was the reunion of Dave Grohl and his Nirvana bandmates, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, for a performance at the FireAid benefit concert in support of those affected by the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires in January. They were joined by guest vocalists St. Vincent, Kim Gordon and Joan Jett in place of the late Kurt Cobain, as well as Dave Grohl’s daughter Violet Grohl.
The reconstituted Nirvana then played a second show in February during Saturday Night Live‘s 50th anniversary Homecoming Concert special, this time with Post Malone on vocals for a rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Dave Grohl continued to pop up at shows here and there, including a surprise Coachella appearance, before Foo Fighters officially announced their first concert post-scandal: a performance in Singapore set for October. Days after that news broke came another big surprise: the firing of drummer Josh Freese.
Freese, who joined the Foos in 2023 following the 2022 death of Taylor Hawkins, shared in a May 16 Instagram post that he was informed the band “decided ‘to go in a different direction with their drummer'” and that “no reason was given.”
While the Foos camp mostly stayed quiet amid the Freese dismissal, the band continued to hint at a full-on comeback, announcing more shows in Asia and teasing a return to the studio. In late June they released a cover of the Minor Threat song “I Don’t Wanna Hear It,” followed by the premiere of an original single called “Today’s Song” in early July.
Later in July, it was reported that the Foos had recruited Ilan Rubin of Nine Inch Nails to be their new drummer. In a twist, Freese announced that he was rejoining NIN after previously playing with Trent Reznor and company between 2005 and 2008.
Foo Fighters made Rubin’s joining official when they played a last-minute surprise concert in September in San Luis Obispo, California. They followed that show with a few more pop-up underplay performances across the U.S., which were recorded for a new live EP.
In October, the Foos put out another new single, “Asking for a Friend,” and announced a U.S. stadium tour with Queens of the Stone Age for 2026.
While it may have been a bumpy road back, Dave Grohl has officially returned to fighting Foo.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
