Spontaneous condolences following the tragic death of Taylor Hawkins. There were countless tweets ranging from drummer legend Ringo Starr to Gene Simmons to Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello. Across the music scene, numerous commemorative or “tribute” songs for the drummer of the Foo Fighters were released over the weekend.
Elton-John
Elton John dedicated the song “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” to Hawkins at his concert in Des Moines, Iowa. The two recently worked together on album recordings. Losing a colleague at the age of 50 makes him extremely sad, said the old master. “I was so shocked because he played on my ‘lockdown sessions’. He was one of the nicest people you could meet. Also a great drummer. As a real musician he loved all genres and also life.”
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Slash, who is currently touring with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, performed a special song for him outside of the usual tour program. In Orlando, he personally announced “Starlight”: “We’ve lost a really close friend. A damn great guy, a damn sweetie. We are completely devastated that we lost him.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXwx_Kq8ebc
The reactions go across the music landscape. From the rock project Mammoth WVH by Wolfgang van Halen (the son of the late Eddie van Halen) to Brit popper Liam Gallagher and pop singer Miley Cyrus.
Mammoth WVH
Mammoth WVH chose the Foo Fighters cover song “My Hero” for their concert in Boston. For Wolfgang Van Halen, Hawkins was a real hero. They had only rehearsed the piece hours beforehand. One may therefore excuse the rough edges, but “we had to do it!”
Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher chose the Oasis classic “Live Forever” for the “one and only Taylor fucking Hawkins” at the concert in London. Visibly upset, he stood at the microphone and said: “It’s for you, brother.”
Miley Cyrus also felt a soul mate with the rocker. She had just performed at the same festival in Bogota that the Foo Fighters were supposed to be headlining. On her onward journey to a concert in Brazil, she wrote on Twitter: “The last few days have been very exhausting for me emotionally and physically. After I got altitude sickness, my plane was hit by lightning and now the first person I spoke to after the flight has died!”
She dedicated the evening to her fatherly pal, performing “Angels Like You” for him, accompanied by a tearful announcement: “I would have done anything to hang out with him again. The badass guy I know who wanted me to shine and sing LOUD for the love of rock ‘n’ roll! I can do this with the help of my friend TH who is up there now – and all of you. Let’s do it!”