Foo Fighters have found their next drummer. Foo Fighters has tapped Ilan Rubin for the gig, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It’s unclear whether Rubin joins Foo Fighters as a full-time member or as a touring drummer for the band.
Rubin is best known for his work with Nine Inch Nails, where he’s served as the band’s touring drummer since 2009.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2020, becoming the youngest-ever inductee at the time, at 32 years old.
According to the outlet, Rubin had committed to Nine Inch Nails through this year, but informed frontman Trent Reznor last week that he had “accepted a job with another band”.
He’s also the drummer for Angels & Airwaves.
The move comes just over two months after Foo Fighters parted ways with drummer Josh Freese, who joined the group in 2023 as successor to the late Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022.
Notably, as Rubin joins the Foos, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Freese will return to Nine Inch Nails, according to a rep for the band.
The band has subsequently shared a picture of Freese and tagged the drummer in an Instagram story, writing, “Let’s fucking go.”
Ilan Rubin was voted “Best Undiscovered Drummer in the World (18 & under)” by Modern Drummer at just age 12 and performed at the Modern Drummer Festival. As highlighted in Modern Drummer (Oct 2015), Rubin plays with “power and passion” on par with John Bonham, combined with exceptional sophistication and precision.
Having played with Lostprophets, Paramore, Angels & Airwaves, and being the long‑time touring drummer for Nine Inch Nails since 2009 (inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as the youngest inductee), Rubin has amassed a stellar resume by his early 30s.
Tom DeLonge described him as “a phenom” and “infinitely better than me on guitar,” praising his mastery of multiple instruments. Melodics and other profiles highlight his musical versatility, adaptability across genre, and compositional skill.
Reddit drumming and fan communities are consistently awed by his ability: “Absolutely INSANE Ilan Rubin is… truly a freak of nature on the kit.”
“He’s an absolute powerhouse!”
Fans often recall his live performance of Nine Inch Nails’ “Perfect Drug,” where he pulls off a complex programmed breakbeat live: “He is the only [NIN drummer] to have played The Downward Spiral back to front and The Perfect Drug live.”
And Paramore fans frequently praise his work on their self-titled album, calling him “a prodigious talent” and crediting him for making the drum sound “so good” on hits like Ain’t It Fun.
Critics and industry experts consistently rank him at or near the top of modern rock drummers.
Peers and music professionals often describe him as a “secret weapon” or “phenom.”
Fans and online communities unanimously call him a powerhouse, a beast, and sometimes even “the greatest of his generation.”
Ilan Rubin is exceptionally highly rated—a technical virtuoso with dynamic feel, unmatched musicality, and a reputation for elevating every band he plays with.
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE
Noise11.com
Follow us at https://bsky.app/profile/noise11.bsky.social
Noise11 on Instagram
Comment on the news of the day, join Noise11 on Facebook
