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Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has died

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has died, according to a statement from the band. He was 50 years old.

The band announced the news in a statement on social media on March 25. No cause of death was given.

“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of Taylor Hawkins,” it read.

“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.”

Born in Dallas, Texas on February 17, 1972, Taylor Hawkins played in the experimental band Sylvia before playing drums on Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’ and ‘Can’t Not’ tours. Hawkins officially joined the Foo Fighters in 1997, replacing their original drummer William Goldsmith.

“I’d met Dave [Grohl] at this [US radio station] K-Rock Christmas show because Foo Fighters were on their way up and Alanis Morissette was through the fucking stratosphere at that point,” Hawkins told NME in a 2021 cover story.

“Me and Dave just looked like long lost brothers in a weird way. We had a similar vibe and I don’t know why. I remember my friend playing with the Foo Fighters before I met Dave and watching them goof around backstage. He said to me, ‘That guy could be like your brother’.

“And sure enough, when we met, we just thought, ‘We’re brothers from another mother!’ It was instantaneous – so much so that Alanis Morrisette just said ‘What are you going to do when Dave asks you to be the drummer in the Foo Fighters?’”

Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters – Chris Shiflett, Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl – photographed in 1997. Credit: Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images

According to a 2018 interview, Grohl asked him to join the band after Goldsmith decided to quit, and he became a permanent member during the recording of the band’s fourth studio album ‘One By One’.

Hawkins also kept busy with many side projects. He had led Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders as drummer and vocalist since the 2000s and in 2014 formed the side project The Birds of Satan, which was itself a spin-off the cover band Chevy Metal.

Most recently, Hawkins teamed up with Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney to form the trio NHC. Earlier this year, they released the EP ‘Intakes & Outtakes’.

Taylor Hawkins playing Bottlerock Napa Valley 2019 in Chevy Metal
Taylor Hawkins playing Bottlerock Napa Valley in 2019 in the cover band Chevy Metal. Credit: Jim Bennett/Getty Images

The Foo Fighters are currently on tour in South America. Hawkins’ final show with the band was the headlining slot at Lollapalooza Argentina in Buenos Aires on March 22.

Hawkins died before Foo Fighters could perform at Festival Estero Picnic in Bogotá, Colombia on March 25. Lit candles were placed on the festival’s stage in his honour:

Tributes have begun to flow in for Hawkins. Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello shared a photo of himself, Hawkins and Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell, writing: “God bless you Taylor Hawkins. I loved your spirit and your unstoppable rock power. Rest In Peace my friend.”

Queen guitarist Brian May expressed his disbelief at Hawkins’ passing: “No. It cannot be. Heartbroken. Taylor, you were family to us. Our friend, our brother, our beloved child. Bless you. We will miss you so bad.”

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Ozzy Osbourne also shared a tribute for the “amazing musician”.

Read more tributes to Hawkins below.

This is a developing story.