Numerous rockers reacted to and paid tribute to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins who passed away last week at the age of 50. Understandably the band canceled all of their previously announced concerts and their planned appearance at The Grammys. “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,” the band said in a statement. “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.”
The “Motor City Madman” Ted Nugent commented recently on Hawkins’ passing in an episode of “The Nightly Nuge.” “It’s heartbreaking on so many levels,” Nugent said. “Fifty years old with a horrible, long-term celebration of substance abuse. I’m not… Well, I am casting judgment because substance abuse is selfish. His wife and daughter, they should have been taken into consideration. Is spending time with your wife and daughter more important than getting high or less important than getting high?”
Nugent recalled meeting numerous musicians in the past whose lives were cut short by drugs or alcohol. “(AC/DC singer) Bon Scott would come to the studio when my band was recording ‘Weekend Warriors’ (in 1978) out of Miami and AC/DC was coming in (to work on) Highway To Hell’ — just phenomenal musical powers. And he’d come in drunk every day with Jack Daniel’s or an Old Grand-Dad, and he’d go, ‘Hey, Teddy, try some of this.’ And he smelled like a diaper. What a talent. What a nice guy. These were all nice guys. But what happens is the music can be so overwhelming, the delivery of your comedy or your art or your dream, it can be so obsessive that it’s hard to get rid of it … a lot of people will dismiss this as being just absolutely too simple, but it’s not; it’s perfectly simple — if you’re so obsessed with delivering your art that you can’t escape it, they think drugs and alcohol with help. It only makes it worse.”
Nugent also expressed his sadness for Hawkins’ surviving relatives and friends. “So, if you loved Taylor Hawkins — I loved him; I loved the man; I still love him,” he said. “But I love his wife and daughter more. Because they didn’t break his heart; he broke their heart. So, God rest Taylor Hawkins’s soul and all those stoners and drunks that died prematurely. Thank God for every day you’re above ground. Breathe deep, concentrate on the positive and show reverence for your gift of life and your sacred temple. Do not poison your sacred temple. It’s that simple.”
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