To mark their 30th year as a band, Foo Fighters returned on Wednesday with “Today’s Song,” their first original release since 2023. Alongside the track, Dave Grohl shared a 13-minute spoken-word message on the band’s official website, offering a rare public acknowledgement of lineup changes and the band’s evolution over three decades.

In the statement, Grohl confirmed the departure of drummer Josh Freese, who joined the band in the wake of Taylor Hawkins’ death. While Freese’s exit hadn’t been officially addressed until now, Grohl used the opportunity to thank him alongside former members William Goldsmith and Franz Stahl for their contributions.

“Over the years, we’ve had moments of unbridled joy and moments of devastating heartbreak,” Grohl said. “Moments of beautiful victory, and moments of painful defeat. We have mended broken bones and broken hearts. But we have followed this road together, with each other, for each other, no matter what. Because in life, you just can’t go it alone.” He continued, “It should go without saying that without the boundless energy of William Goldsmith, the seasoned wisdom of Franz Stahl, and the thunderous wizardry of Josh Freese, this story would be incomplete. So we extend our heartfelt gratitude for the time, music, and memories we shared with each of them. Thank you, gentlemen.”

Grohl also looked back on the moment Foo Fighters began to take shape: Thanksgiving Day, 1994, when he first met bassist Nate Mendel. “A few heaping plates of food, a few bottles of wine, one thing led to another, and before long we’d started a new band with other dear friends, Pat Smear and William Goldsmith,” Grohl recalled. “We called it Foo Fighters.” Their self-titled debut was released on June 26, 1995.

Later in the audio message, Grohl paid tribute to Taylor Hawkins, the band’s longtime drummer, who died in 2022. “Taylor, your name is spoken every day, sometimes with tears, sometimes with a smile, but you are still in everything we do, everywhere we go, forever,” he said. “The enormity of your beautiful soul is only rivaled by the infinite longing we feel in your absence. We all miss you beyond words. Foo Fighters will forever include Taylor Hawkins in every note we play, until we do finally reach our destination.”

The band’s new single, “Today’s Song,” echoes Grohl’s reflections. It dwells on time, loss, and the uncertainty of moving forward. “Two sides to a river / Too troubled to cross / It might take you under / Today’s song,” he sings. “We’ll drown in the middle / Which side are you on / One way or another / Today’s song.”

This release follows a relatively quiet period for the band after their 2023 album, But Here We Are, although they briefly resurfaced with a Minor Threat cover earlier this year. Now, it seems, a full return is in motion. Foo Fighters have announced a run of live shows in Asia this fall including October dates in Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan, marking their first full concerts in over a year.