San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
FOO FIGHTERS DRUMMER AMONG ROCK’S MOST DISTINCT, BELOVED
Taylor Hawkins, the hard-hitting, charismatic drummer for Foo Fighters, an enduring Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band that has won 12 Grammys and released seven platinum albums, has died at 50.
A statement posted to the band's social media late Friday and sent by its representative confirmed the death, but did not provide a cause or location. The band had been scheduled to play a show Friday night in Bogotá, Colombia, at the Festival Estéreo Picnic.
Colombia's Prosecutor's Office released a statement Saturday saying toxicological tests on urine from Hawkins' body preliminarily found 10 psychoactive substances and medicines, including marijuana, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants and benzodiazepines. It did not provide a cause of death and investigations are continuing.
Recognizable for his flailing limbs, surfer's good looks and wide, childlike grin, Hawkins became a member of the band led by Dave Grohl for its third album, “There Is Nothing Left to Lose,” released in 1999, and played on the group's subsequent seven albums. He drew on two distinct styles: the fundamentals of Roger Taylor, from Queen, and the intricacy of Stewart Copeland from the Police. He added the muscle of punk and metal, the precision of drum machines and a gift for explosive momentum.
Foo Fighters' most recent album, “Medicine at Midnight,” arrived last year as the group was celebrating its 25th anniversary, and in an interview with The New York Times, Hawkins was direct about his hopes for its future. “I want to be the biggest band in the world,” he said.
Hawkins was born in Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 17, 1972, and raised in Southern California. He started to play drums at age 10, and said that his mother gave him the confidence to dream big: “When I first got drums, she was the one who would watch me play. She was a big supporter and told me I'd make it,” he said in an interview last year. Attending a Queen show in 1982 confirmed that music was his passion. “After that concert, I don't think I slept for three days,” he said in a 2021 interview with metal magazine Kerrang. “It changed everything, and I was never the same because of it. It was the beginning of my obsession with rock 'n' roll, and I knew that I wanted to be in a huge rock band.”
After playing in a local California band called Sylvia and backing Canadian rock vocalist Sass Jordan, Hawkins' first mainstream break came in 1995, when he joined Alanis Morissette's band as she toured behind her blockbuster album “Jagged Little Pill.” (He appeared in the video for her breakout hit “You Oughta Know,” flipping his blond mane behind the drum kit.)
Grohl, then still primarily known for his role as the drummer for Nirvana, recalled meeting Hawkins backstage at a radio station concert in the 1990s and feeling an immediate kinship.
“I was like, ‘Wow, you're either my twin or my spirit animal or my best friend,'” Grohl said in an interview last year. “When it was time to look for a drummer, I kind of wished that he would do it, but I didn't imagine he would leave Alanis Morissette, because at the time she was the biggest artist in the world.”
But when Grohl called him later looking for a drummer, he recalled, Hawkins said, “I'm your guy."
“I think it had more to do with our personal relationship than anything musical,” he added. “To be honest, it still does. Our musical relationship — the foundation of that is our friendship, and that's why when we jump up onstage and play, we're so connected, because we're like best friends.”
Grohl, Foo Fighters' lead singer and one of its songwriters and guitarists, had played drums on the band's first two albums. In joining the band, Hawkins was charged with assuming the seat of one of contemporary rock's most distinct, powerful and beloved drummers. His colorful flair and good humor helped him carve out his own place in the band, and he adapted to Grohl's creative process: “He writes in rhythms, not only in melodies but in rhythms, so I have to meet him there,” Hawkins said.
Recorded in a Virginia basement far from the prying eyes of a record label, “There Is Nothing Left to Lose” went on to win the band's first Grammy, for best rock album.
Foo Fighters were scheduled to perform at this year's Grammys, to be held April 3. “Medicine at Midnight” is nominated for three awards, including best rock performance (for the song “Making a Fire”), best rock song (“Waiting on a War”) and best rock album.
Foo Fighters were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year, recognized for their “rock authenticity with infectious hooks, in-your-face guitar riffs, monster drums, and boundless energy.” At the induction ceremony, Hawkins told Grohl, “Thank you for letting me be in your band.”
Hawkins is survived by his wife, Alison, whom he married in 2005, and their three children, Oliver, Annabelle and Everleigh.