Taylor Hawkins was an American musician. He was best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters.
Let’s find out some trivia and facts about his life and career.
- His full name was Oliver Taylor Hawkins
- He was born on February 17, 1972
- He died on March 25, 2022
- He was an American musician
- Best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters
- With the Foo Fighters he recorded nine studio albums between 1999 and 2021
- Before joining the band in 1997, he was the touring drummer for Sass Jordan and for Alanis Morissette
- As well as the drummer in the progressive experimental band Sylvia
- In 2004, Hawkins formed his own side project, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders
- In which he played drums and sang, releasing three studio albums between 2006 and 2019
- He formed the supergroup NHC with Jane’s Addiction members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney in 2020
- There he also took on lead vocal and drumming duties
- Taylor Hawkins was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 as a member of Foo Fighters
- He was voted “Best Rock Drummer” in 2005 by the British drumming magazine Rhythm
- He died at the age of 50 on March 25, 2022, in Bogotá, Colombia
- Oliver Taylor Hawkins was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on February 17, 1972
- His family moved to Laguna Beach, California, in 1976, where Hawkins grew up
- Hawkins was the youngest of three, with an older brother and sister, Jason and Heather
- He graduated from Laguna Beach High School in 1990
- There he had been friends with current Yes lead vocalist Jon Davison
- Taylor Hawkins said that his drumming was chiefly influenced by classic rock drummers
- These include Phil Collins of Genesis, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Budgie of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Roger Taylor of Queen, Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction, Ringo Starr of The Beatles, Jim Gordon of Derek and the Dominos, Neil Peart of Rush and Alex Van Halen of Van Halen
- With Stewart Copeland of The Police, Taylor Hawkins became friends
- Hawkins’s first two major inspirations were Roger Taylor and Stewart Copeland
- He reported that listening to these two drummers’ different styles showed him a wide spectrum of drumming style
- He also mentioned that he would play along with songs on the radio or records, like Queen’s News of the World, to enhance his skills when he was young
- Taylor Hawkins and his wife, Alison, married in 2005
- Together they have three children
- They lived in Hidden Hills, California, after moving from Topanga Canyon in 2012
- Hawkins overdosed on heroin in August 2001, which left him in a coma for two weeks
- Hawkins’ bandmate and best friend, Dave Grohl, was beside his hospital bed in London for two weeks until he woke up
- Grohl said he was ready to quit music while Hawkins was in the hospital
- He also revealed in the 2011 documentary Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, that he wrote the song “On the Mend” from the band’s 2005’s album In Your Honor, about Hawkins while he was in a coma
- Taylor Hawkins suffered from stage fright
- In his 2021 memoir The Storyteller, Dave Grohl described Hawkins as “my brother from another mother, my best friend, a man for whom I would take a bullet”
- On March 25, 2022, emergency services were called to the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel in Bogotá, Colombia, where Hawkins was suffering from chest pain in his hotel room
- Health personnel arrived and found Hawkins unresponsive; they performed CPR, but he was declared dead at the scene, at the age of 50
- No cause of death was given
- The following day, Colombian authorities announced that a preliminary urine toxicology test indicated that Hawkins had ten substances in his system at the time of his death, including opioids, benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants, and THC cannabis
- Colombia’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine stated that they would “continue the medical studies to achieve total clarification of the events that led to the death of Taylor Hawkins”
- Also, the attorney general’s office would continue to investigate his cause of death in a “timely manner”
- An article in Rolling Stone from May 2022 presented the case that Hawkins was suffering from extreme exhaustion in the period leading up to his death
- However, two of the interviewees, Chad Smith and Matt Cameron, have since disavowed the article stating that they were quoted out of context and that their comments were misrepresented
- The Foo Fighters announced the death of Hawkins in a Twitter statement on March 25, writing that “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever”
- On March 29, the band cancelled all their upcoming shows
- On the night of his death, Hawkins was scheduled to perform with the Foo Fighters at the Estéreo Picnic Festival in Bogotá as part of their ongoing South American tour
- The festival stage was turned into a candlelight vigil for Hawkins
- Miley Cyrus, who had worked with Hawkins on her 2020 album, Plastic Hearts, dedicated her Brazil’s Lollapalooza performance to him.
- Liam Gallagher, a longtime friend of Hawkins, dedicated “Live Forever” to him at his London concert for Teenage Cancer Trust the day after his death, describing him as a “brother” and “a fucking joy”
- Elton John, who had worked with Hawkins recently on his album, The Lockdown Sessions, dedicated a performance of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to him
- At his investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, Queen drummer Roger Taylor dedicated his OBE to Hawkins, describing him as “sunshine in human form” and adding that he had been a mentor to his own son Rufus
- At the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer, Chad Smith, used a drum kit with “Taylor” written on it
- At the end of their set, Smith made a speech dedicating their performance to Hawkins
- On April 3, 2022, the 64th Grammy Awards paid tribute to Hawkins with a brief montage of blended interviews and backstage home videos with live footage, ending in an audience singalong of the Foo Fighters’ 1998 single “My Hero”
- Billie Eilish paid tribute during her Grammys performance wearing an oversized T-shirt with a picture of Hawkins’ face on the front and his last name in capital letters printed on the back
- On June 8, 2022, the Foo Fighters and the family of Hawkins announced two shows in tribute to Hawkins
- The first show, played at Wembley Stadium in London, took place on September 3, 2022
- The second, at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, will take place later in September 2022 and will feature Hawkins’ bandmates as well as numerous guest artists
- The concert at Wembley Stadium was streamed live on YouTube and Paramount+, with a rerun being broadcast on CBS
- His son Oliver Shane Hawkins paid tribute to his father with the band during a performance of “My Hero” by taking on his father’s role as drummer
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