Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese plays on Barbie movie soundtrack
Alongside Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen
Mark Ronson has revealed that new Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese is among the rock stars who appear on the Barbie movie soundtrack.
In a new video released by Warner Bros., Barbie soundtrack producer and curator Mark Ronson said that Josh Freese plays drums on the track ‘Just Ken.’
Penned by Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, the 80s-style power ballad is sung by Ken himself Ryan Gosling, with Wolfgang Van Halen and Slash on guitar duties alongside Freese.
Slash’s involvement on ‘Just Ken’ was revealed on the red carpet premiere of Barbie in Los Angeles, with Ronson enthusing: “(Slash) killed it! He played the solo at the end and the rhythm parts. It’s wonderful.”
The following day, Wolfgang Van Halen took to Instagram to share photos of himself at the premiere and confirmed that he also contributed to the Barbie soundtrack.
“If anyone is curious about specifics, I have a lot of textural stuff throughout the film with two major spots where I do some soloing,” Van Halen tweeted at the time. “One in particular is pretty cool because it's the big song that Ryan Gosling sings and Slash plays on it as well!"
Commenting on what the trio of rock stars bring to ‘Just Ken’, Ronson said in the new Warner Bros. video: “By having all these really great musicians from Slash to Wolfgang Van Halen to Josh Freese on the drums play on (the track), (it) make(s) sure the music is also as powerful and as full and as rich as you would have on a real song – to make sure that there’s nothing about this song that feels tongue-in-cheek.
“And mainly because Ryan (Gosling’s) performance is that good that it deserves that bed around it of some serious musicianship.”
The Barbie movie’s links to rock music doesn’t stop there. Ryan Gosling’s Ken wears clothing in certain scenes featuring his name written in the Metallica font.
He also plays a modified version of Jerry Cantrell’s signature Gibson Fire Devil Songwriter acoustic guitar with the Metallica 'Ken' logo:
50-year-old Josh Freese is an esteemed and musically diverse session musician and touring drummer who has performed with The Offspring, Sting, Paramore, Lana Del Rey, Rob Zombie, Bruce Springsteen, A Perfect Circle, Guns N’ Roses, Nine Inch Nails, the Vandals and Weezer to name but a few.
The Barbie movie hits UK cinemas tomorrow (Friday 21st July).
Find out what big name rock star is related to Mark Ronson:
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