(CNN) — The death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins shocked the music world this weekend, with fans and musicians around the world shocked by the news of his passing at the age of 50.
The circumstances of his death remain unclear, but here’s what we know so far.
He had a 25-year career with the Foo Fighters.
Hawkins played drums for Alanis Morissette before joining Foo Fighters in 1997, three years after the band’s founding by vocalist Dave Grohl, and in time to join the band’s tour following the release of “The Color and the Shape,” according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“It took me a while to find my place at first, really,” Hawkins told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a 2014 “60 Minutes” interview, referencing Grohl’s history as the drummer for legendary grunge band Nirvana, which ended abruptly with the death of Kurt Cobain in April 1994. “But (Grohl) never made it difficult for me.”
“When you have a drummer like Taylor Hawkins in your band, I don’t necessarily miss being the drummer, because I have the best drummer in the world,” Grohl said. “Taylor is a much more technical drummer than I am.”
Foo Fighters wasn’t Hawkins’ only project. He had also released material as a solo artist and with Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders, on which Hawkins was the lead vocalist and drummer. The band released three albums, the most recent in 2019 titled “Get the Money”.
Last year, Hawkins joined Dave Navarro and Chris Haney of Jane’s Addiction to form the superband NHC (Navarro, Hawkins, Chaney). The band released their debut EP “Intakes & Outtakes” in February.
Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters at day 3 of Lollapalooza in Chile, 2022 at Parque Bicentenario Cerrillos in Santiago, Chile.
He died during a tour of South America
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the circumstances surrounding Hawkins’ death, but news of his passing broke on Friday minutes before Foo Fighters was due to perform in Bogotá, Colombia at Festival Estéreo Picnic.
“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins. His musical spirit and infectious laugh will live with us all forever,” the band said on Twitter. “Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that his privacy be treated with the utmost respect at this unimaginably difficult time.”
The emergency services received a report on Friday night about a patient with chest pain in a hotel in the north of the city, according to a statement from the Bogotá District Health Secretariat. An ambulance was dispatched to the scene. A private health provider had already been providing treatment, but efforts to revive Hawkins were unsuccessful, according to the statement.
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) March 26, 2022
Romeo Reyes, an attendee who traveled to Bogotá from El Salvador, told CNN that the performance was canceled just as supporters were gathering around 11 p.m. “About 10 minutes later it was learned that Taylor had died,” Reyes said. .
“We were all sad,” Reyes said.
The band’s performance in Colombia was to be followed by another on Sunday in São Paulo, Brazil.
Fans react after the news of the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins at the Festival Estéreo Picnic in Bogotá.
What the preliminary report of the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office says
The cause of death was not revealed in a preliminary “forensic medical study” released on Saturday by the Attorney General’s Office, which said that a urine toxicology test found 10 substances, including THC (marijuana), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids.
“The National Institute of Forensic Medicine continues with the medical studies to achieve full clarification of the events that led to the death of Taylor Hawkins,” says the report, and the Attorney General’s Office will continue to investigate his cause of death in a manner ” timely”.
How your legendary peers remember you
Plans for Hawkins’ funeral have yet to be released, but fans and colleagues around the world have paid tribute to Hawkins in the days since his death, including rock and roll legends like Roger Taylor, the Queen drummer who according to Hawkins it had inspired him to get behind the drums.
“He was a kind and brilliant man and an inspiring mentor to my son Rufus and the best friend one could have,” the Queen drummer wrote on Instagram on Saturday, saying Hawkins’ death was like “losing a favorite little brother.” “.
In his own tribute, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page recalled playing with the Foo Fighters in 2008 at Wembley Stadium: “It was great playing with him. I really admired him and he was a brilliant musician: his technique, his energy and his lively enthusiasm.
…and their fans
There are also tributes from ordinary people, fans who were moved by Hawkins and his music, like Franco Tolone, who tweeted footage of Hawkins singing Queen’s “Somebody to Love” in his last performance on March 20 at Lollapalooza Argentina.
“Who would have thought that we were attending the last performance of Taylor Hawkins in his life… What a shock,” Tolone wrote. Goodbye, beast of music.
Another of his followers is Emma Sofía, 9 years old, who met Hawkins days before his death after setting up his drums at the door of the band’s hotel in Paraguay.
“We will remember him for his charisma and the beautiful gesture he had with Emma,” the family wrote on their Instagram. “Taylor gave us something to believe in. He was, is and always will be an inspiration.”
— Aya Elamroussi, Jason Hanna, Chloe Melas, Stefano Pozzebon, Sara Smart and Michelle Watson contributed reporting.
