Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins
Great sadness for US musicians
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has died aged 50.
© Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/ImageCollect
“The Foo Fighters family is devastated” – with these words the band announced the death of their drummer, Taylor Hawkins.
Taylor Hawkins, the drummer for the legendary rock band Foo Fighters, is dead. He was only 50 years old.
The band confirmed the sad news in a statement released on Friday on her official Twitter account published. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the statement said. “His musical spirit and infectious laugh will live on with all of us forever.”
It continued: “Our condolences go out to his wife, children and family and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect at this unimaginably difficult time.”
The cause of death was not disclosed.
Concert and tour cancellation
The band is currently touring South America and played Lollapalooza Argentina earlier this week.
On Friday, the musicians were scheduled to perform at the Estéreo Picnic festival in Bogota, Colombia. However, at the festival, organizers announced that there had been a medical emergency and the band, which was scheduled to headline, would not be performing.
“Due to a very serious medical situation, the Foo Fighters are unable to perform tonight and have canceled the remainder of their South American tour,” read a message displayed over a candlelit stage at the festival. “The festival is still going on, we’ve pushed back the start of Black Pumas by 20 minutes and we’ll be announcing the schedule for the rest of the evening shortly,” it said.
Shortly thereafter, the band announced the tragic news on their social media.
The Foo Fighters, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, should also have performed at the April 3 Grammy Awards.
Great sadness in the music world
Taylor Hawkins, who was born in Fort Worth, Texas, moved to Southern California as a child. He had his first big break when he went on tour as a drummer for seven-time Grammy winner Alanis Morissette (47). He officially joined the Foo Fighters in 1997 (since 1994), replacing William Goldsmith (49). As a drummer, Hawkins was also heard on a solo album by Queen guitarist (since 1970) Brian May (74).
The shock is deep and the grief among Hawkins’ fellow musicians is great. Billy Idol (66) was one of the first to honor the drummer. He posted a portrait photo of Hawkins on Twitter with the caption “So tragic. Rest In Peace Taylor.”
Canadian rock band Nickelback wrote a statement, in which she was “completely stunned” by the news. “Our deepest condolences to his family, bandmates, team, friends and anyone who has ever been touched by the music he created with the Foo Fighters, Alanis Morissette and so many others. This is so incredibly sad.” they added.
The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr (81) shared a black and white photo on Twitter, which shows Hawkins smiling. He wrote: “God bless Taylor, peace and love to his entire family and the band, peace and love.”
Finneas (24), who will appear alongside his sister Billie Eilish (20) at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday, wrote that he was “heartbroken”.. He added: “What an incredible talent that didn’t need to be so kind and generous and cool but he was all of those things anyway. The world was so fortunate to have his gifts for the time that she had her rest in peace”.