More than a week after his death, the pop and rock world is still in shock: Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died on March 25 in a hotel room in Bogotá, Colombia. He was 50 years old. In the evening his band was supposed to perform at a festival there. Hawkins complained of chest pains immediately before his death. A rescue team could not resuscitate him on site. A first toxicological report showed various substances in his blood, the official cause of death has not yet been determined.
The Foo Fighters have since canceled all concerts on their tour schedule for that year, including their planned appearance at the 2022 Grammys. The awards ceremony took place on April 3 in Las Vegas. Hawkins got his seat and was thought of several times throughout the evening. For example, moderator Trevor Noah explained at one point: “Now is the moment when I should actually announce the Foo Fighters. We would have celebrated with them because they had previously won three Grammys. But of course the band is not here tonight because of the death of their legendary drummer Taylor Hawkins. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, the Foo Fighters family and all their fans around the world. Let’s pause for a moment to remember Taylor.”
#GRAMMYs host Trevor Noah gave a brief tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins pic.twitter.com/skwOoNAB8u
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 4, 2022
A collage of videos and images followed, showing Hawkins on drums, accompanied by the Foo Fighters song “My Hero” and Dave Grohl’s lines “There goes my hero, watch him as he goes…”:
Homenaje a @taylorhawkins in go #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/SB5jxTn9eT
— Hanzel Zàrate (@aquientrenostv) April 4, 2022
Billie Eilish also reminded of Taylor Hawkins. During her own performance, she wore a t-shirt with a photo of the drummer laughing on it:
VIDEO: Billie Eilish stuns with a performance of her title track from her latest album, “Happier Than Ever” at the #Grammy’s pic.twitter.com/xrST5k9qN0
— Opinionated Me (@opinion8dmecom) April 4, 2022
“It broke my heart,” Eilish said in an interview with Access Hollywood about the moment before one of her concerts that she learned of Hawkins’ death. “I hear about it right before we go on stage. It tears us apart. It’s so awful, awfully tragic.” Her brother Finneas added, “Taylor was a legendary drummer. We admired his work years before we got to know him.”
The Foo Fighters won three Grammys in 2022 for Best Rock Album (for “Medicine At Midnight”), Best Rock Performance (for “Making A Fire”) and Best Rock Song (“Waiting On A War”).