“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely passing of our dear Taylor Hawkins”. It is with these words, in a press release published on its Twitter account on the night of Friday to Saturday, that the famous American rock band announced the death of its drummer, at the age of 50. He died at the Casa Medina Hotel in Bogota, Colombia, the city where the group was to perform on Friday evening. The circumstances of his death remain to be determined.
“His musical spirit and contagious laughter will forever be etched in our memory”, adds the group of Dave Grohl, ex-drummer of Nirvana. The Foo Fighters are one of the most notorious alternative rock bands on the American scene, winner of several Grammy Awards and author of big hits such as “Everlong” or “My Hero”.
The group was to play this Friday in Bogota on the occasion of the Estéreo Picnic Festival. The Festival shared the group’s press release and posted a message on social media stating that following a “very serious medical fact, the Foo Fighters will not be able to appear this (Friday) evening and have canceled the rest of their South American tour”.
“Unstoppable Rock Power”
Taylor Hawkins had been a part of the Foo Fighters for a quarter of a century, playing drums on some of their biggest hits, including “Learn to Fly” and “Best of You.” He previously played drums for Canadian singer Alanis Morissette.
Tributes poured in across the music world, with the legendary Ozzy Osbourne saluting in him “a great person and an incredible musician”and punk rocker Billy Idol calling the news a “tragic”. “Totally in disbelief at the announcement of the death of Taylor Hawkins”, tweeted the rock group Nickelback, one of the formations heir to Nirvana. Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello praised “unstoppable rock power” of the deceased.