Today (Feb. 17) would have been Taylor Hawkins‘ 51st birthday, and his bandmates in the Foo Fighters made sure to mark the occasion with a social media post.
Utilizing a black-and-white photo of the drummer, their post simply read, “Miss you much.” As you might expect, the post yielded a wealth of comments and “likes,” approaching 498,000 likes on Instagram as of press time. There were also over 5,400 shares on Facebook and over 74,500 likes on Twitter Among those commenting or leaving emojis on the post were Korn drummer Ray Luzier, Queens of the Stone Age’s Alain Johannes, Radkey and Dave Grohl’s daughter Violet.
Prior to joining Foo Fighters, Hawkins spent time behind the kit touring with both Sass Jordan and Alanis Morissette. He officially joined the Foo Fighters on March 18, 1997 after the band had parted with drummer William Goldsmith during the recording of their second album, The Colour and the Shape.
While a member of Foo Fighters, Hawkins would step up to sing on occasion as well, with “Cold Day in the Sun” becoming a staple of live sets showing off his vocal prowess. In addition, Hawkins would often step up to the mic as Foo Fighters performed covers, some of which showed the drummer’s personal tastes. Queen’s “Somebody to Love” was a frequent covers choice for the band, with Hawkins singing and developing a close friendship with Queen’s members over the years.
Hawkins also developed a career outside of Foo Fighters, performing with Chevy Metal, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, The Birds of Satan and just prior to his death fronting the collective NHC with Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney. Hawkins also lent his talents to assist other artists, working with Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, Elton John, Brian May, Coheed and Cambria, Eric Avery, Jackson United and Kerry Ellis.
He also amassed some film credits, appearing as Iggy Pop in the rock film CBGB and appearing as himself in the Foo Fighters’ horror film Studio 666.
Over the course of his career with the Foo Fighters, he became one of the most respected and beloved drummers in rock. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2021.
Hawkins died on March 25, 2022 at the age of 50 while on tour with Foo Fighters in Bogota, Colombia. He left behind wife Alison and three children, one of which, son Shane, spent time behind the drumkit with Foo Fighters at their Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts last year.
Foo Fighters have shared that they will continue without Hawkins, but have yet to reveal the identity of their new drummer ahead of their tour and festival dates scheduled later this year.
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