What was Queen drummer Roger Taylor's connection to the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins?
And what did Taylor say after Hawkins' passing?
Keep watching to find out.
The Foo Fighters have never been shy about wearing their influences on their sleeves,
and their late drummer, Taylor Hawkins, was no exception.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Hawkins was a massive Van Halen fan and performed
the band's 1984 hit "Panama" in a ninth-grade school talent show.
In 2019, with his cover band side project Chevy Metal, Hawkins played an entire set
of only Van Halen songs.
He told the crowd at Los Angeles' BeachLife Festival,
"I gotta tell you, being Van Halen for the day is pretty f---ing awesome.
It's the best f---in' setlist you're ever gonna find, right?"
Other big influences on Hawkins included Rush drummer Neil Peart, The Police's Stewart Copeland,
and Phil Collins.
However, it seems that no band influenced Hawkins quite as much as the legendary English
rock band Queen, especially drummer Roger Taylor.
Hawkins' connection to Queen went far beyond just being a fan.
Roger Taylor was his inspiration to play drums, and later a friend.
During a show in Atlanta in 2019, Foo Fighters welcomed the Queen drummer on stage to sit
in and play the Queen and David Bowie hit "Under Pressure."
Hawkins told the audience that Roger Taylor was his mentor, a statement he's never been
shy about making.
"I wanted to be Roger Taylor and I wanted to be in Queen.
And you know, I wanted to play stadiums when I was 10 years old"
According to AllMusic, Hawkins was born on February 17, 1972, in Dallas, Texas, but grew
up in southern California.
Hawkins' first band was an experimental rock outfit called Sylvia, but his first taste
of major success came when he was brought on to play alongside Alanis Morrisette, whose
album "Jagged Little Pill" had gone multi-platinum.
According to Drum!, in 1997, Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana band Foo Fighters was in need
of a drummer during the sessions for their second album, "The Colour And The Shape."
Grohl called to see if Hawkins knew any drummers who they could hire, and despite continuing
to play with Morrisette, Hawkins himself decided to give it a go with Foo Fighters.
Roger Taylor was from the generation before Hawkins.
According to Biography, the Queen drummer was born on July 26, 1949, in King's Lynn,
England.
He eventually moved to London and started playing drums in a band called Smile alongside
future Queen bandmate Brian May.
Eventually, bassist John Deacon and legendary lead singer Freddie Mercury came into the
fold, and Queen was born.
Countless classic and hit songs followed, including "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Will Rock
You," "Another One Bites The Dust," and "Radio Ga Ga," which Taylor wrote.
Despite Mercury's death in 1991, Queen has continued and is active to this day, although
the only remaining members still active in the band are Taylor and May, with John Deacon
quitting the band in 1997 according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
Taylor Hawkins' Queen obsession was well-known.
In a 2014 "60 Minutes" interview with Anderson Cooper, Hawkins and Grohl were asked to give
their opinions on different musicians.
When Queen was mentioned, Grohl's reply was,
"Don't get him started — please."
"That's a whole other '60 Minutes.'
That's not '60 Minutes,' that's like '600 Minutes.'"
Foo Fighters would often play covers at their live shows, and sometimes Hawkins and Grohl
would switch places.
Grohl would take a seat behind the drums, with Hawkins handling vocal duties.
Many times Hawkins would belt out Queen classics, navigating the notoriously difficult-to-nail
vocals of the late Freddie Mercury.
Hawkins' final show in Argentina on March 20, 2022, included him singing a cover of
Queen's "Somebody To Love."
Hawkins was so well-known for his love of Queen that he even had, along with Grohl,
the privilege of inducting the band into the Rock & Roll Hall of fame in 2001.
Hawkins said during the ceremony,
"Queen were my first concert and every concert since has been a bit of a letdown.
Two of the best hours of my life.
[...] As a live band, Queen kind of kicked everyone's ass."
Twenty years later, Hawkins joined his heroes in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as he and
the Foo Fighters were inducted in 2021.
Following Hawkins' death in 2022, Taylor said in an Instagram post that he felt like he
had lost a brother.
The Queen drummer wrote,
"He was a kind brilliant man and an inspirational mentor to my son Rufus and the best friend
one could ever have."
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