"‘A Band’s Quality Reflects Its Drummer’: Josh Freese to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award from Drum Workshop"] - Guitar | Technique

NAMM 2026: Josh Freese is to be honoured by the Drum Workshop with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his “invaluable contributions” to the music industry.

The drummer, who has worked with an incredibly long list of people down the years, is to receive the award at the NAMM Show at the DW/Roland booth next Friday (January 23).

In a statement, Drum Workshop said: “The award is a fitting tribute to a career that has seen him play DW drums on hundreds of albums, across an array of musical genres, with the world’s biggest bands and artists.”

Now 53, Freese’s secret power is his versatility. He started his career as a 16 year old in Californian punk band The Vandals and has since had long term stints in Devo, Guns N’ Roses during the late 90s, A Perfect Circle and more recently, Foo Fighters, with whom he played for three years until joining Nine Inch Nails in what was in effect, a drummer ‘swap deal’: NIN’s sticksman Ilan Rubin joined the Foos.

He’s also worked as a session drummer, playing for a vast array of names, from Michael Buble to Weezer to Sting, Avril Lavigne, M83, Katy Perry, The Offspring, Evanescence, Kelly Clarkson, Good Charlotte and many others. One of those clients, Sting, once said of him: “There’s a truism that ‘a band is only as good as its drummer’. Any band that Josh graced with his presence on the kit was fortunate indeed.”

In a statement, Don Lombardi, Drum Workshop Founder, said: ‘I’ve known Josh since he was a young teenager and have had the privilege of witnessing all the accomplishments he has achieved throughout his lifetime. Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award is well deserved, as he has made an incredible contribution to the music industry and drummers around the world.’

Chris Lombardi, DW President and CEO, added: “Josh has been a true member of the DW family for over 40 years, and I have had the privilege of calling him a friend throughout his entire tenure as a DW artist. It is a true honour to present him with this prestigious award.”