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Taylor Hawkins, the drummer of legendary rock bandFoo Fighters, has died. He was 50.
The group confirmed the loss in a statement shared on their official Twitter account on Friday.
It continued, “Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”
His cause of death has not been revealed.
Martin Philbey/Redferns
The band is currently on tour in South America andplayedat Lollapalooza Argentina earlier this week.
They were set to perform on Friday at the Festival Estéreo Picnic in Bogota, Colombia. However, at the festival, organizers announced that there had been a medical emergency and the band, who were the headliners, would not be appearing.
Shortly after, the band announced the tragic news on their social media.
The Foo Fighters, who wereinductedinto the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, are also scheduled toperform at the Grammy Awardson April 3.
Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins.Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
Hawkins, a Fort Worth, Texas, native moved to the Southern California area when he was a child. His first big break came as he toured as a drummer for seven-time Grammy-winning artistAlanis Morissette. He officially joined Foo Fighters in 1997, replacing William Goldsmith.
In 2020, he opened up about his favorite memories and projects with the Foo Fighters, placing “Aurora” at the top of the list during an interview with Apple Music’s Matt Wilkinson, perNME. The song is featured on the group’s 1999 albumThere Is Nothing Left to Lose,and marks the first project Hawkins ever played on with the band.
“I love that side of [Foo Fighters frontman]Dave [Grohl],” he said. "I love it when Dave gets in his almost yacht rock softness in his voice and he double tracks his voice really nice."
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“And that was the first drum track that I ever did for the Foo Fighters that I was really, really proud of, because I only played half the drums on the ‘…Nothing Left To Lose’ record, because it was my first time in the studio and I was just… I didn’t know how to record.”
He added, “Recording drums and playing live are just super different and the mistakes are polarised heavily, once you’re under the scrutiny of the microphones. You had to do it right.”
Recalling the first moment he ever heard a Foo Fighters song, Hawkins said, “I could also say the first time I heard ‘This Is A Call’ was the first time I heard the Foo Fighters and I wasn’t in the band yet.”
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“I was playing with Alanis and we were all in the van, traversing the Foo Fighters, playing all the same clubs as they were,” he continued.
Hawkins added that he “just wore the album out,” back then, touting the song as his “favorite of all time” from the group.
source: people.com
