Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins Useless at 50
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has died on the age of fifty.
Information of Hawkins’ tragic passing was introduced by Foo Fighters on Friday night time. “The Foo Fighters household is devastated by the tragic and premature lack of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band stated in an announcement. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will dwell on with all of us endlessly. Our hearts exit to his spouse, youngsters and household, and we ask that their privateness be handled with the utmost respect on this unimaginably tough time.”
In line with the Los Angeles Instances, Hawkins was discovered useless in his resort room in Bogota, Colombia on Friday — simply hours earlier than the band’s headlining set at Pageant Estéreo. In lieu of the efficiency, candles had been positioned on stage to honor Hawkins.
A reason behind loss of life was not instantly disclosed.
Hawkins had been a principal member of Foo Fighters since 1997. He was recruited by frontman Dave Grohl to exchange the band’s unique drummer, William Goldsmith, simply because the band was on the brink of launch its sophomore album, The Color and the Form.
Hawkins appeared on all Foo Fighters’ studio albums from 1999’s There Is Nothing Left to Lose by way of their newest LP, 2021’s Drugs at Midnight.
Previous to becoming a member of Foo Fighters, Hawkins was the drummer in Alanis Morissette’s touring band. He additionally fronted a number of side-projects, together with the covers band Chevy Steel, The Birds of Devil, and Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders.
In Foo Fighters, Hawkins had the daunting process of enjoying drums in a gaggle the place the frontman had lengthy been thought-about one among rock’s biggest drummers. Not solely did Hawkins excel on the place, he turned a second mouthpiece for the band, with an enthralling wit and humorousness that gelled completely with Grohl’s large character.
Hawkins’ charisma and expertise manifested itself throughout Foo Fighters’ epic dwell reveals, the place he was usually referred to as upon to take the highlight, singing lead on cowl songs like Queen’s “Anyone to Love.”
Sadly, for Grohl, it marks the second time he has sustained such a tragic loss as a member of a high-profile rock band, having already skilled the loss of life of Kurt Cobain as a member of Nirvana in 1994.
Hawkins’ passing comes at a particularly energetic time for Foo Fighters, with the band having been inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame final yr. Along with having an intensive tour mapped out for 2022, the band simply launched the horror-comedy film Studio 666, through which all of the members appeared. And simply this week, Foo Fighters had been introduced as one of many performers for the upcoming Grammy Awards.
Away from Foo Fighters, Hawkins was lately recruited to play drums on Ozzy Osbourne’s upcoming solo album. Upon listening to the information of Hawkins’ loss of life, the steel icon tweeted, “Taylor Hawkins was actually an incredible individual and a tremendous musician. My coronary heart, my love and my condolences exit to his spouse, his youngsters, his household, his band and his followers. See you on the opposite facet.”
Final yr, Hawkins fashioned the brand new supergroup NHC with Jane’s Dependancy members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney, releasing their first two singles in September and an EP final month.
Among the many different musicians who’ve paid tribute to Hawkins for the reason that information of his passing are Lars Ulrich, Travis Barker, Tom Morello, KISS’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, Ringo Starr, and extra. See their tributes right here.
Born Oliver Taylor Hawkins on February seventeenth, 1972, in Fort Price, Texas, the drummer had simply turned 50. Our condolences exit to Taylor Hawkins’ household, buddies, and bandmates throughout this very tough time.