Foo Fighters and NIN make a one-for-one drummer trade. But who is Ilan Rubin?

With some live dates coming up in about a month, the Foo Fighters needed someone to release the mysteriously-dismissed Josh Freese, who, of course, filled the enormous gap left by Taylor Hawkins. They’ve now official got a guy. But who is Ilan Rubin?

His name isn’t familiar to most fans, but if you’re plugged into the world of alt-rock drummers, you’ll have run across his name before. In fact, his name was mentioned as a possible candidate the last time the Foos went through a drummer change.

Ilan has quite the resume. He’s been playing professionall since before he was a teenager. When he was nine(!!!), he was part of a group called F.o.N., which played three times on the Warped Tour. In 1999, the group played Woodstock ’99. Ilan was just 11.

He’s been Trent Reznor’s live drummer since 2009 and when NIN was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was there with them. And at age 32, he became the youngest inductee ever. He’s also worked with Danny Elfman (movie/TV theme/scores legend), with Tom DeLong in Angels & Airwaves, Paramore, and Lostprophets. And if you’re a real music nerd, you’ll know him from his solo project, The New Regime where he sang, and played guitar and piano.

Fun fact: As Ilan settles in with the Foos, Josh Freese is back with NIN (he was with them between 2005 and 2008). I guess they got things done before the trade deadline.

And what is it with drummers this year? Oasis, Pearl Jam, The Who, Primus, and Guns N’ Roses have all recently switched things up.