Taylor Hawkins, drummer of the rock group Foo Fighters, has died at the age of 50, a statement from the band said.
His death was reported during the band’s South American tour. They had been scheduled to play at a festival in Bogota, Colombia, on Friday night.
No further details were immediately available, although the band said in a statement that his death was a “tragic and untimely loss.”
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) March 26, 2022
“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever,” said a message on the band’s official Twitter account. “Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family.”
‘Brother from another mother’
Hawkins had played with the Foo Fighters since 1997, when he was recruited by lead singer and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl.
He was known for his charismatic stage presence and played on the band’s most successful albums, including “One by One” and “On Your Honor,” and on hit singles including “My Hero” and “Best of You.”
He also co-starred in Foo Fighters’ recently released horror-comedy film, “Studio 666.”
In Grohl’s 2021 book “The Storyteller,” he describes Hawkins as his “brother from another mother, my best friend, a man for whom I would take a bullet.”
“Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we ever played together,” Grohl wrote. “We are absolutely meant to be, and I am grateful that we found each other in this lifetime.”
Before joining Foo Fighters, Hawkins drummed for Canadian singer Alanis Morissette.
Tributes pour in
Musicians paid tribute to Hawkins on social media late Friday, with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello praising his “spirit and unstoppable rock power.”
“God bless you Taylor Hawkins,” he wrote on Twitter alongside a photo of himself, Hawkins and Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Ferrell.
God bless you Taylor Hawkins. I loved your spirit and your unstoppable rock power. Rest In Peace my friend. pic.twitter.com/AkiRLF2L3e
— Tom Morello (@tmorello) March 26, 2022
Taylor Hawkins might’ve been the only drummer alive who could support Dave Grohl and not make you wish Grohl was sitting behind the kit.
— Stephen Thomas Erlewine (@sterlewine) March 26, 2022
Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne hailed Hawkins as a “great person and an amazing musician,” while punk rocker Billy Idol described his death as “tragic.”
Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother, co-writer and producer, called him “an incredible talent, who didn’t also need to be so kind and generous and cool but was all those things too anyway. The world was so lucky to have his gifts for the time that it did.”
This article first appeared on DW. Read the original here.