Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins tragically passed away in late March during a tour stop in in Bogota, Colombia. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band said in a statement. “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.”
On Saturday, the Foo Fighters hosted the first of two tribute shows to the late drummer at Wembley Stadium in London. The star-studded affair featured guest performances by Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Travis Barker, Them Crooked Vultures, The James Gang, Wolfgang Van Halen, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, Justin Hawkins, Chrissie Hynde and many more.
“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we’ve gathered here to celebrate the life, the music and the love of our dear friend, our bandmate, our brother Taylor Hawkins,” said Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl as he stood next to his bandmates to kick off the show.
“For those of you who knew him personally, you know that no one else could make you smile or laugh or dance or sing like he could. And for those of you admired him from afar, I’m sure you’ve all felt the same thing. So, tonight we’ve gathered with family and his closest friends, his musical heroes and greatest inspirations to bring you a gigantic f*cking night for a gigantic f*cking person. So, sing and dance and laugh and cry and f*cking scream and make some f*cking noise so he can hear us right now. ‘Cause you know what? It’s gonna be a loooong f*cking night, right?”
The show also featured a performance from Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson. The pair joined members of the Foo Fighters on stage to play “Back In Black” and “Let There Be Rock.” During the latter, Johnson said, “Taylor, this one is for you,” from the stage. AC/DC released their critically-acclaimed “Power Up” album in 2020 and were gearing up for shows to support it when the world shut down. It has been heavily rumored that AC/DC will return to the stage sometime in 2023.
The tribute concert was live-streamed on the Paramount streaming service as well as MTV’s YouTube channel. An official cause for Hawkins’ death hasn’t been released yet, but the Colombia attorney general’s office released a preliminary toxicology report that found evidence of multiple drugs. Hawkins joined Foo Fighters in 1997.
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