Josh Freese says Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose isn’t a rock star with a big ego.
The drummer recently joined an interview with Rick Beato and revealed that Rose was open to his songwriting ideas and added:
“Another thing I really liked about him was that he was open-minded about collaborating, and about about music. There were lots of situations [in other bands], especially on that level, where I would come in, and they’d say, ‘You’re the drummer, here’s the song, play the drums’ [laughs]. But [Axl] was like, ‘I love that. Let’s work on that.’ There’s not a lot of guys I’ve been in bands with [who have that attitude].”
He lastly mentioned a joke about drummers:
“There’s that old joke: What’s the last thing the drummer said before we got fired? ‘Hey guys, I’ve got a song idea!’ [laughs]”
Why Did Freese Leave GNR?
Freese stayed as a member of GNR between 1997 and 1999. The rocker made ‘Oh My God’ for the ‘End of Days’ soundtrack and helped write ‘Chinese Democracy’ with Rose. He told the following to The Drummer’s Journal in 2016 about his departure:
“I had a two-year contract with the mI chose not to re-sign after those two years were up. I always liked Axl and we got on well. I spent a lot of time in the studio with them, but after two years of exactly that, I realised that’s how things were likely going to continue. At the time, I was also doing lots of other projects.”
GNR Didn’t Use All Of Josh’s Recordings
Josh also played drums on 30 songs for ‘Chinese Democracy,’ but Bryan Mantia redid his recordings. He talked about it during an appearance on Let There Be Talk:
“But when I left, Axl’s situation there, he got a new drummer, and to make him feel more of a part of the whole thing, he had him redo the drums. My feelings weren’t hurt, I didn’t care, but the interesting part is that, and I’d hear rumors about this, but then you can see online, Brain [Bryan Mantia, drums] talking. Brain tells a story, and I’d heard about it, but not until I saw him interviewed about it, I went, ‘Oh my god, this is true!’”
In May 2023, Freese replaced the late Taylor Hawkins and became the new drummer of Foo Fighters. He recently said he didn’t expect to be asked to drum for the Foo Fighters. Everyone was talking about it but he wasn’t sure if the band would keep going after Taylor’s death.
You can watch his full interview below.