Hawkins played drums for Alanis Morissette before joining the Foo Fighters in 1997 – three years after frontman Dave Grohl founded the band – in time to tour the band after the release of “The Color and the Shape” “, for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “When you have a drummer like Taylor Hawkins in your band, I do not necessarily miss being the drummer – because I have the best drummer in the world,” Grohl said, calling Hawkins “a drummer much more technically oriented than me.” “ Foo Fighters was not Hawkins’s only work. He had released solo material under his own name and with Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders, in which Hawkins sang and played drums. The band released three albums, most recently “Get the Money” of 2019. Last year, Hawkins teamed up with Dave Navarro and Jane Chris Haney of Jane’s Addiction to form the NHC supergroup (Navarro, Hawkins, Chaney). They released their EP debut “Intakes & Outtakes” in February.
He died on a tour of South America
There is still a lot we do not know about how Hawkins died, but the news of his death became known on Friday, when the Foo Fighters were to appear in Bogota, Colombia, at the Festival Estéreo Picnic. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins. His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live with us all forever,” the band said on Twitter. “Our hearts are with his wife, children and family and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.” Emergency correspondents received a report Friday night of a patient with chest pain at a hotel north of the city, according to a statement from Bogota’s Health Minister. An ambulance was sent to the scene. A private health care provider had already provided treatment, but Hawkins’ resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, the statement said. Romeo Reyes, a concertgoer who traveled to Bogota from El Salvador, told CNN that the show was canceled as fans gathered around 11 p.m. “We were all sad,” Reyes said. The band’s performance in Colombia is supposed to follow another Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
What a Colombian AG preliminary report says
The cause of death was not disclosed in a preliminary “forensic study” released Saturday by the Colombian Attorney General’s Office, which said a urine toxicology test found 10 substances, including THC, tricyclic antidepressants, and opioids. “The National Institute of Forensic Medicine is continuing its medical studies to fully clarify the facts that led to the death of Taylor Hawkins,” the report said, and the Attorney General’s Office will continue to investigate the cause of his death in a timely manner. . “
How the legendary colleagues remember him
Hawkins’ funeral plans have not been released, but fans and colleagues around the world are paying tribute to Hawkins in the days following his death – including rock and roll legends such as Roger Taylor, the Queen drummer. which Hawkins said inspired him to go behind the drum set. “He was a kind, brilliant man and an inspiring mentor to my son Roufos and the best friend one could have,” the Queen drummer wrote on Instagram on Saturday, saying Hawkins’s death was like “I lost a younger loved one.” brother “. In his own tribute, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page recalled playing with the Foo Fighters in 2008 at Wembley Stadium, saying: “It was so good to be playing with him. I really admired him and he was a great musician: his technique, his energy of him and his spirit. enthusiasm. ”
… and his fans
There are also tributes from everyday people, fans who were moved by Hawkins and his music, such as Franco Tolone, who posted on Hawkins Twitter footage of the Queen singing “Somebody to Love” at his last show March 20 at Lollapalooza Argentina. “Who would have thought that we were watching the last show of Taylor Hawkins in his life… A shock”, wrote Tolone. “Goodbye, beast of music.” Another fan is 9-year-old Emma Sophia, who met Hawkins a few days before his death after setting up her drums outside the band’s hotel in Paraguay. “We will remember him for his charisma and the beautiful gesture he made with Emma,” the family wrote on their Instagram. “Taylor gave us something to believe in. It was, is and will always be an inspiration.” CNN’s Aya Elamroussi, Jason Hanna, Chloe Melas, Stefano Pozzebon, Sara Smart and Michelle Watson contributed to this report.
