Foo Fighters cancel tour dates in light of drummer Taylor Hawkins’ death
Taylor Hawkins died while the band was on tour in South America
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Foo Fighters have announced the cancellation of all remaining tour dates following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.
In a statement shared by the band, the members wrote:
It is with great sadness that Foo Fighters confirm the cancellation of all upcoming tour dates in light of the staggering loss of our brother Taylor Hawkins. We’re sorry for and share in the disappointment that we won’t be seeing one another as planned. Instead, let’s take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we’ve made together.
With Love,
Foo Fighters
Hawkins died in Colombia on Friday, March 25 while Foo Fighters were on the South American leg of their tour. He was 50. He’d been in the band for 25 years, leaving Alanis Morissette’s backing band to join Foo Fighters in 1997, three years after the band formed.
In his memoir, The Storyteller, Dave Grohl wrote about how much his friendship with Hawkins means to him, referring to him as his “brother from another mother, my best friend, a man for whom I would take a bullet.”
Grohl also wrote that their longtime friendship was destined: “Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we ever played together. 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.”
Upon Hawkins’ death, Foo Fighters released a statement on social media, saying, “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 on with all of us forever. 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.”
34 Comments
It’s hard to contemplate a Taylor-less Foo Fighters. They really had no other options.
I know what you mean. I wonder if Dave would become a drummer/singer, because he is the Foo’s original drummer. And it is hard to imagine anyone else stepping in right now.
I’m nominating Janet Weiss. Incredibly fun to watch. I think she might move the band in a more interesting direction.
I don’t know – she bailed when (among other things) the reunited Sleater-Kinney set out to play large theaters – I don’t think she could handle a capacity-plus crowd at a South American football stadium.
He was the original drummer. And the original lead guitarist. And the original rhythm guitarist. And the bass player. But William Goldsmith preceded Taylor on drums when they played live before Grohl cut the album by himself.
It’s awfully hard to do what they do with a drummer as your frontman. Plus, it’s super difficult to play the drums and sing at the same time.
Roger Taylor would like a word.
Actually, he will see you, and raise you an octave.
But he wasn’t a frontman.
He was, just not of Queen. He had a solo career (Mercury literally sings backing vocals on one album song for him) and The Cross was his band in the late 80s-early 90s. Literally all of them except maybe Deacon did independent projects, not just Mercury. Taylor was also often the lead vocals instead of Mercury in Queen for the songs he wrote (and was the “pretty” one).
(Octave comment should make it clear I was not talking about Duran Duran’s drummer.)
He still in love with that car of his?
Yep. Roger was famous for performing…. Under Pressure…….. I’ll see myself out…
Levon Helm & Ringo would like a word.
Just playing drums at that level looks super difficult to me. Although Dave sang and played drums on the Hanukkah Sessions videos, although doing that for a whole concert would probably be pretty hard.
And boring.
Phil Collins anyone?
Do you really want to see Dave Grohl play the drums and sing??? For a whole concert? Even Phil Collins didn’t do that!
Somewhere Chester Thompson is sad 🙁
Dave is Foo Fighters’ original everything.
Dave Grohl is fucking devastated for sure and I would not be surprised if he never performs as the Foo Fighters anymore.
He lost his best buddy almost 30 years ago and he lost his other best buddy a few days ago. Honestly, I am not sure he will ever fully recover. I know I probably wouldn’t.
It’s hard to imagine a Keith Moon-less The Who. Oh wait, I don’t have to.
Yes indeed
I read Dave Grohl’s book earlier this year, it seems like Kurt Cobain’s death still sticks with him and he must feel even more terrible now to have lost a second bandmate.
I understand that life in a rock band generally entails some combination of drugs and alcohol, but at some point shouldn’t the surviving band members shoulder some of the responsibility when something like this happens while they are all touring together (assuming the preliminary toxicology reports are correct and drugs contributed to the cause of death)? Grohl mentioned in his book that he knew Cobain was using heavy drugs but didn’t realize just how bad it had gotten until too late. I’d hope that following that experience Grohl or someone else would have stepped in when they saw such a close friend going down the same road. In any case, another tragic loss of a talented musician.
You might want to let the body get cold before you start blaming Dave for this.
You’re right, it’s too soon for conjecture regarding his death. So let’s remove the Foo Fighters from the discussion entirely. Let’s say hypothetically that your best friend is also your roommate and business partner. If your friend is, or becomes, an addict and you haven’t done literally everything you can do (including threatening to not let them continue to be your business partner unless they get treatment) to help them and they ultimately die as a result of their addiction, do you feel any sort of guilt? If so, doesn’t guilt imply some sort of responsibility for the outcome?
It is really in poor taste to try to blame Dave for Taylor Hawkins’ death. We don’t know anything about their relationship, about Hawkins’ condition, or what anyone in his life was or wasn’t trying to do to help. I’ve found in my own life that when I’m getting mad over the way a stranger is living their life, it means it’s because I haven’t got mine in order. Best of luck!
“You’re right, it’s too soon for conjecture regarding his death. So let’s remove the Foo Fighters from the discussion entirely.” – Me
But hey, shame on me for trying to have an actual discussion in the “discussion” section.
To answer your question: no
lol, you are a mental case. Get help.
Taylor all but said he still used, just had let it gotten out of hand the time he overdosed. Dude was a grown ass man, he is responsible for his choices.
That’s what I’ve been thinking – as long as he showed up on time at the venue and performed competently onstage, everything in moderation on your own time was fine, until it wasn’t.
Addiction isn’t a choice. Even grown ass men can still require help from friends and family.
I recall Dave Grohl discussing Taylor Hawkins’ drug use in one of the many documentaries they’ve done over the years. He confronted Hawkins early on (around 20 years ago) about it, resulting in Hawkins being clean for several years. Addiction is a disease and it is not unheard of for people to relapse after years of sobriety, no matter how hard their friends try to prevent it. It’s also entirely possible the drugs in Hawkins’ system were prescribed, though at this point all we know is the Colombian authorities say they found numerous drugs in his urine.It should also be noted that Grohl isn’t the only member of Foo Fighters who’s lost a band mate to addiction and suicide. Pat Smear was not only in Nirvana when Kurt Cobain died, he was also a founding member of Germs and lost band mate Darby Crash to an intentional heroin overdose in 1980.I’m sure all of Hawkins’ band mates, friends and family are devastated. While it’s human nature to try and find a reason and place blame, I don’t think it’s all that helpful.
Since you were very clearly there and have intimate knowledge about what was going on – why didn’t you do anything about it?
You idiots should be ashamed at the ridiculousness of these differin ads.