Paying tribute to the great Taylor Hawkins, the late Foo Fighters drummer whose rock and roll legacy will go on to inspire generations to come.
The musical world was shattered with the loss of one of the all-time rock n’ roll greats Taylor Hawkins, drummer of the Foo Fighters. Since his untimely passing, stories and videos have been circulating of his work with a raft of different artists and covering some cool songs, which is what we’re going to dive into today.
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It’s important to note that this is only the tip of the iceberg, there have been too many great Taylor Hawkins moments, more of which can be found across social media.
SOS Allstars
Taylor Hawkins was a part of one the greatest supergroups of all time, featuring over 40 drummers. Leading the pack was Hawkins, Roger Taylor of Queen, and Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers. They performed at 2007’s Live Earth, a show put in place to approach climate change.
Behind the kit with Alanis Morissette
Since his passing, many stories about Taylor Hawkins and his work have been unearthed, perhaps surprisingly (and unsurprisingly) to many music fans out there, he was behind the kit for Alanis Morissette for a number of years, with the video above showing the powerhouse that he is.
The drummer didn’t appear on any of the vocalist’s feature releases, but was apart of her 1997 live album, Jagged Little Pill, Live.
‘Under Pressure’ with Rufus Taylor
It’s clear Queen are massive influences on the Foo Fighters, with ‘Somebody to Love’ being a staple of their set for many years.
In 2017, Foo Fighters shared a festival line-up with The Darkness, a group where Rufus Taylor was the drummer, son of Queen’s Roger.
During the festival, Rufus joined the rockers for a performance of ‘Under Pressure’ with Taylor on vocals. It’s truly one of the coolest performances from the group.
‘Somebody To Love’ live in Geelong
As mentioned, Queen were a massive influence on the Foo Fighters, with the group performing it across all their shows over the last few years.
Aussies were lucky that before his untimely death, we were fortunate enough to have one more performance from the group, where the drummer killed it with a vocal performance that reportedly left the audience in awe. It shows whether he’s behind the kit or not, he will be remembered as one of the great modern musicians.
‘We Will Rock You’ with Queen
Continuing on the Queen journey, Taylor had the opportunity to perform with his drumming idol and his band in 2006, when Queen were inducted into the VH1 Rock Honours. Pre-Adam Lambert, the band featured Paul Rodgers on vocals after Freddie Mercury’s death back in 1991.
Chevy Metal Van Halen Set
In Modern Foo Fighters times, the group would tour the world on end, and play to millions of adoring fans across the globe. For even the most experienced musos on the planet, this would be a tough feat, the boys burning out, and needing to reignite the fire that makes them so good. They would often take breaks and work on solo material, with one of Taylor’s many acts being called Chevy Metal, a band that plays Metal covers.
Above is a killer full set where the group, (who features some faces you’ll recognise) kill some Van Halen classics, and it shows what Hawkins is like as a front man – hint: it’s pretty damn good.
NHC Supergroup
Only a few years ago, Hawkins joined forces with legendary Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and bassist Chris Chaney (who also played with Alanis Morrissette), with NHC, a fresh supergroup.
Late last year, at a $10 show, the group performed a cover of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, and it features Hawkins son Shane on the kit, clearly getting a fair share of his Dad’s talent. Once again, Taylor killing it in the front man role, acing a classic.
Taylor sings ‘Times Like These’
Like many fans have undoubtedly done over the past year, diving into interviews with the group, and marvelling at their tight-knit approach, there’s plenty of evidence that they clearly have each other’s backs.
This was evident at a performance during a festival in Germany, where Dave Grohl lost his voice, and Hawkins took over vocals without missing a beat. It show’s the legend he is, and how sorely he’ll be missed by his bandmates.
Check out NZ Herald’s Karl Puschmann’s awesome story about the first time he met Hawkins here.
