Great Drummer
RIP
RIP
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dies at 50
- Thread starter zebra03
- Start date
LOS ANGELES — Taylor Hawkins, for 25 years the drummer for Foo Fighters and best friend of frontman Dave Grohl, has died during a South American tour with the rock band. He was 50.
There were no immediate details on how Hawkins died, although the band said in a statement Friday that his death was a “tragic and untimely loss.”
Foo Fighters had been scheduled to play at a festival in Bogota, Colombia, on Friday night. Hawkins’ final concert was Sunday at another festival in San Isidro, Argentina.
“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever,” said a message on the band’s official Twitter account that was also emailed to reporters. “Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family.”
Police vehicles, an ambulance and fans were gathered outside the hotel in northern Bogota where Hawkins was believed to have been staying.
“It was a band I grew up with. This leaves me empty,” Juan Sebastian Anchique, 23, told The Associated Press as he mourned Hawkins outside the hotel.
Colombian police confirmed the death but gave no details. The U.S. Embassy in Bogota expressed its condolences in a tweet.
After Grohl, Hawkins was the most recognizable member of the group, appearing alongside the lead singer in interviews and playing prominent, usually comic, roles in the band’s memorable videos and their recent horror-comedy film, “Studio 666.”
Hawkins was Alanis Morrissette’s touring drummer when he joined Foo Fighters in 1997. He played on the band’s biggest albums including “One by One” and “On Your Honor,” and on hit singles including “My Hero” and “Best of You.”
In Grohl’s 2021 book “The Storyteller,” he called Hawkins his “brother from another mother, my best friend, a man for whom I would take a bullet.”
“Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we ever played together,” Grohl wrote. “We are absolutely meant to be, and I am grateful that we found each other in this lifetime.”
It’s the second time Grohl has experienced the death of a close bandmate. Grohl was the drummer for Nirvana when Kurt Cobain died in 1994.
Tributes poured out on social media for Hawkins on Friday night.
“God bless you Taylor Hawkins,” Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello said on Twitter along with a photo of himself, Hawkins and Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Ferrell. “I loved your spirit and your unstoppable rock power.”
“What an incredible talent, who didn’t also need to be so kind and generous and cool but was all those things too anyway,” tweeted Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother, co-writer and producer. “The world was so lucky to have his gifts for the time that it did.”
Born Oliver Taylor Hawkins in Fort Worth Texas in 1972, Hawkins was raised in Laguna Beach, California. He played in the small Southern California band Sylvia before landing his first major gig as a drummer for Canadian singer Sass Jordan.
Hawkins told The Associated Press in 2019 that his early drumming influences included Stewart Copeland of The Police, Roger Taylor from Queen, and Phil Collins, who he said was “one of my favorite drummers ever. You know, people forget that he was a great drummer as well as a sweater-wearing nice guy from the ’80s, poor fella.”
When he spent two years in the mid-1990s drumming for Morrissette, he was inspired primarily by the playing of Jane’s Addiction’s Stephen Perkins.
“My drums were set up like him, the whole thing,” Hawkins told the AP. “I was still sort of a copycat at that point. It takes a while and takes a little while to sort of establish your own sort of style. I didn’t sound exactly like him, I sound like me, but he was a big, huge influence.”
He and Grohl met backstage at a show when Hawkins was still with Morrissette. Grohl’s band would have an opening soon after when then-drummer William Goldsmith left. Grohl called Hawkins, who was a huge Foo Fighters fan and immediately accepted.
“I am not afraid to say that our chance meeting was a kind of love at first sight, igniting a musical ‘twin flame’ that still burns to this day,” Grohl wrote in his book. “Together, we have become an unstoppable duo, onstage and off, in pursuit of any and all adventure we can find.”
Hawkins first appeared with the band in the 1997 video for Foo Fighters’ most popular song, “Everlong,” although he had yet to join the group when the song was recorded. He would, however, go on to pound out epic versions of it hundreds of times as the climax of Foo Fighters’ concerts.
In another highlight of the group’s live shows, Grohl would get behind the drums and Hawkins would grab the mic to sing a cover of Queen’s “Somebody to Love.”
“The best part of getting to be the lead singer of the Foo Fighters for just for one song is I really do have the greatest rock ‘n’ roll drummer on the planet earth,” Hawkins said before the song in a March 18 concert in Chile.
Grohl can be heard telling him to shut up.
Hawkins also co-starred in Foo Fighters’ recently released horror-comedy film, “Studio 666,” in which a demonic force in a house where the band is staying seizes Grohl and makes him murderous. Hawkins and the other members of the band are killed off one by one. The premise came out of their work on their 10th studio album at a home in Los Angeles.
He also drummed and sang for the side-project trio Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders. They released an album, “Get the Money,” in 2006.
Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison and their three children.
___
Associated Press Writer Manuel Rueda contributed to this report from Bogota, Colombia.
details - https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...9489c4-acb6-11ec-8a8e-9c6e9fc7a0de_story.html
There were no immediate details on how Hawkins died, although the band said in a statement Friday that his death was a “tragic and untimely loss.”
Foo Fighters had been scheduled to play at a festival in Bogota, Colombia, on Friday night. Hawkins’ final concert was Sunday at another festival in San Isidro, Argentina.
“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever,” said a message on the band’s official Twitter account that was also emailed to reporters. “Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family.”
Police vehicles, an ambulance and fans were gathered outside the hotel in northern Bogota where Hawkins was believed to have been staying.
“It was a band I grew up with. This leaves me empty,” Juan Sebastian Anchique, 23, told The Associated Press as he mourned Hawkins outside the hotel.
Colombian police confirmed the death but gave no details. The U.S. Embassy in Bogota expressed its condolences in a tweet.
After Grohl, Hawkins was the most recognizable member of the group, appearing alongside the lead singer in interviews and playing prominent, usually comic, roles in the band’s memorable videos and their recent horror-comedy film, “Studio 666.”
Hawkins was Alanis Morrissette’s touring drummer when he joined Foo Fighters in 1997. He played on the band’s biggest albums including “One by One” and “On Your Honor,” and on hit singles including “My Hero” and “Best of You.”
In Grohl’s 2021 book “The Storyteller,” he called Hawkins his “brother from another mother, my best friend, a man for whom I would take a bullet.”
“Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we ever played together,” Grohl wrote. “We are absolutely meant to be, and I am grateful that we found each other in this lifetime.”
It’s the second time Grohl has experienced the death of a close bandmate. Grohl was the drummer for Nirvana when Kurt Cobain died in 1994.
Tributes poured out on social media for Hawkins on Friday night.
“God bless you Taylor Hawkins,” Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello said on Twitter along with a photo of himself, Hawkins and Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Ferrell. “I loved your spirit and your unstoppable rock power.”
“What an incredible talent, who didn’t also need to be so kind and generous and cool but was all those things too anyway,” tweeted Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother, co-writer and producer. “The world was so lucky to have his gifts for the time that it did.”
Born Oliver Taylor Hawkins in Fort Worth Texas in 1972, Hawkins was raised in Laguna Beach, California. He played in the small Southern California band Sylvia before landing his first major gig as a drummer for Canadian singer Sass Jordan.
Hawkins told The Associated Press in 2019 that his early drumming influences included Stewart Copeland of The Police, Roger Taylor from Queen, and Phil Collins, who he said was “one of my favorite drummers ever. You know, people forget that he was a great drummer as well as a sweater-wearing nice guy from the ’80s, poor fella.”
When he spent two years in the mid-1990s drumming for Morrissette, he was inspired primarily by the playing of Jane’s Addiction’s Stephen Perkins.
“My drums were set up like him, the whole thing,” Hawkins told the AP. “I was still sort of a copycat at that point. It takes a while and takes a little while to sort of establish your own sort of style. I didn’t sound exactly like him, I sound like me, but he was a big, huge influence.”
He and Grohl met backstage at a show when Hawkins was still with Morrissette. Grohl’s band would have an opening soon after when then-drummer William Goldsmith left. Grohl called Hawkins, who was a huge Foo Fighters fan and immediately accepted.
“I am not afraid to say that our chance meeting was a kind of love at first sight, igniting a musical ‘twin flame’ that still burns to this day,” Grohl wrote in his book. “Together, we have become an unstoppable duo, onstage and off, in pursuit of any and all adventure we can find.”
Hawkins first appeared with the band in the 1997 video for Foo Fighters’ most popular song, “Everlong,” although he had yet to join the group when the song was recorded. He would, however, go on to pound out epic versions of it hundreds of times as the climax of Foo Fighters’ concerts.
In another highlight of the group’s live shows, Grohl would get behind the drums and Hawkins would grab the mic to sing a cover of Queen’s “Somebody to Love.”
“The best part of getting to be the lead singer of the Foo Fighters for just for one song is I really do have the greatest rock ‘n’ roll drummer on the planet earth,” Hawkins said before the song in a March 18 concert in Chile.
Grohl can be heard telling him to shut up.
Hawkins also co-starred in Foo Fighters’ recently released horror-comedy film, “Studio 666,” in which a demonic force in a house where the band is staying seizes Grohl and makes him murderous. Hawkins and the other members of the band are killed off one by one. The premise came out of their work on their 10th studio album at a home in Los Angeles.
He also drummed and sang for the side-project trio Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders. They released an album, “Get the Money,” in 2006.
Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison and their three children.
___
Associated Press Writer Manuel Rueda contributed to this report from Bogota, Colombia.
details - https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...9489c4-acb6-11ec-8a8e-9c6e9fc7a0de_story.html
I have been able to see the FF in concert twice. It really seemed like they enjoyed what the were doing, and didn't want to leave the stage at the end of the show. In Richmond, VA, they played over 3 hours, and that was without an encore. When the show was over, I think the audience was as tired as the band.
Born only 5 months before myself.
I enjoyed his performances greatly, and also thought on how Dave Grohl has surely had his share of loss.
RIP, Taylor, may your friends and family remember the good times.
I enjoyed his performances greatly, and also thought on how Dave Grohl has surely had his share of loss.
RIP, Taylor, may your friends and family remember the good times.
Jason Lafler
Active Member
I really enjoyed the 2nd disc " easy listening" from In Your Honor. Also good to see the original guitarist from the first album came back. Hope they continue. They did a good job inducting Rush into the hall of Fame.
Jason Lafler
Active Member
Yeah, I saw that. Sad.
tomlinmgt
Lunatic Member
I've said this elsewhere and really can't add much to it. It's a damn shame for so many reasons. Guy was a fantastic ambassador for the drumming community with his unbridled enthusiasm for all things related to drums, drumming and music. He seemed like one us...musicians who came of age and learned our craft during the early days of MTV and from all the music that defined it and also the great and influential music that preceded it. Another big loss that reinforces the fragility of life, even for our heroes. RIP, Taylor.
Such sad news. I've been reading about it, and the consensus is he was a genuinely nice guy, talented drummer and family man. Huge loss for The Foo Fighters and the music community.
I suspect it would be called multiple drug toxicity locally, same thing that got a friend of mine. Many drugs are "cross tolerant", meaning they have the same effects, and mixing benzodiazipams with opiods is courting death. Both supress breathing, and not everyone knows that, with the result that taking something for a muscle spasm and you regular (and probably unknown concentration) "recreational" drugs results in the failure to breathe. Happened to Heath Ledger too.
Very sad to see such a vibrant and caring person die because of it. The moral is they call it "drug abuse" for a reason, it's not a recreational activity.
And, sadly, he's statistically of an age where un-diagnosed heart disease can cause a massive heart attach. 50 ain't no Spring chicken after all.
Very sad to see such a vibrant and caring person die because of it. The moral is they call it "drug abuse" for a reason, it's not a recreational activity.
And, sadly, he's statistically of an age where un-diagnosed heart disease can cause a massive heart attach. 50 ain't no Spring chicken after all.
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50 is just to young to die from such an unnecessary reason.
Emma was reading an article that detailed 10 substances that were found in his blood afterwards -
Its really sad when "partying" pushes someone past the tox limit ...
Colombian authorities on Saturday said Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had 10 substances in his system when he was found dead in Bogotá on Friday.
The office of the Attorney General of Colombia tweeted the update Saturday, saying a preliminary toxicology test found substances including opioids, benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants, and THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.
The office did not rule on the cause of death, and said that investigation is ongoing and results will be released after they are obtained.
Hawkins died Friday night in a hotel located in the town of Chapinero in Bogotá, Colombia, local health officials said in a news release Saturday morning.
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture...s-investigate-death-foo-fighters-dr-rcna21689
Emma was reading an article that detailed 10 substances that were found in his blood afterwards -
Its really sad when "partying" pushes someone past the tox limit ...
Colombian authorities on Saturday said Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had 10 substances in his system when he was found dead in Bogotá on Friday.
The office of the Attorney General of Colombia tweeted the update Saturday, saying a preliminary toxicology test found substances including opioids, benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants, and THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.
The office did not rule on the cause of death, and said that investigation is ongoing and results will be released after they are obtained.
Hawkins died Friday night in a hotel located in the town of Chapinero in Bogotá, Colombia, local health officials said in a news release Saturday morning.
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture...s-investigate-death-foo-fighters-dr-rcna21689
Emma and I were talking about that this morning - the fans probably thought they were doing him a favor offering him all that stuff they had with him -
I mean, he's TOUGH, he's a ROCK STAR, right? And sadly, it was just too much.
I'm not trying to ding the guy - I think of all the musicians who died from some kind of drug excess - its always just too sad ...
Always makes me think of the Who's bass player, Ox (John Entwistle)
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