Born in Fort Worth Texas, drummer Taylor Hawkins was the youngest of three siblings having
a mother and a father who seemed like polar opposites. According to Rolling Stone he would
describe his father as and i quote “stony coldness, typical of a Seventies man,”,
while mother was and i quote full of love, sweetness, and tenderness, and the total opposite
of my dad.” His mother encouraged Taylor to become a musician.
His family would relocate to Laguna beach when he was 5 years old. Hawkins would tell
the BBC that at the age of 10 he had a neighbour who had an old drum kit and a few beat up
guitars and by this point in his life he didn’t excel at anything including academics and
sports. He would admit that he initially wanted to play guitar but it seemed like too
much work to him and his neighbour encouraged
him to instead try the drums. After observing Hawkins
play he would tell him and i quote “you’re a drummer.’
It was around this time that a female friend of Hawkins saw her brother shipped off to the
army. He would leave behind his record collection, something Hawkins soon found himself going
through. One of the first records that would caught Hawkins attention was Queen’s News
Of the World. He would tell BBC “What i really liked as a kid, besides the pop music
on the radio, was the Star Wars soundtrack, the Super Man soundtracks and you know all
the John Williams stuff and i was emotionally drawn to those soundtracks as a kid…and
i think there was something in Queen that had that cinematic approach.”
His mother would take him to his first concert
as a child, which happened to also be Queen. Hawkins soon became
a fan of other groups including The Police, Black Sabbath, Yes, Genesis and Rush with
Roger Taylor of Queen and Stewart Copeland of the Police being his drumming idols. He
would learn to play drums by drumming along to his
favourite songs, By the time he reached middle school Hawkins
life revolved around two things: music and surfing. It was during this time he would
play in a variety of cover bands. While the 80’s were dominated by hair metal, Hawkins
was more attracted to alternative rock including Jane’s Addiction. After high school hawkins
relocated to Venice beach and even started a band called Sylvia that was heavily inspired
by Jane’s Addiction.
Sylvia was playing a gig at Club Lingerie, which was attended by a guitarist named Stevie
Salas who was playing with Canadian artist Sass Jordan who was looking for a drummer
to take on tour with them as they were opening for Aerosmith across
Europe. Salas would recall to Rolling Stone
“I just showed up at Club Lingerie, and there was this kind of crappy band playing,But
I kept looking at the drummer and thinking, ‘He’s got this unique, weird look. Something
is interesting about him.’ I wanted a kid that really understood alternative and punk
music.” By this point in time, Hawkins was only 22, and was still rough around the edges
but Jordan liked that about Hawkins telling the magazine
“I knew it the second he walked in the room. When somebody exudes that much love and that
much light, you’re just drawn to them. I was like, ‘We can work with this guy. He’d
be so awesome to have on the road.'”
In 1994 while Jordan was opening for Steve Perry, Scott Welch who managed Perry was also
working with an up and coming Canadian artist named Alanis Morissette and he took notice
of the drummer.. Morissette had her album
Jagged Little Pill about to come out and they needed
a drummer for the road. Hawkins would switch
camps and spend the next year and a half with on the road with
Alanis Morissette
In December of 1995 Dave Grohl would meet hawkins for the first time at the KROQ almost acoustic
christmas concert where both foo fighters and alanis morisette were on the bill. Grohl
would recall meeting hawkins for the first time saying ‘we got along like brothers
from the second we met. We were best friends from that moment with taylor adding
in the book ‘this is a call “i was this little dork playing in this back up band and
the first thing that struck me was that dave was really nice and fun to hang out with.
I’d met some other people from big bands musicians i’d looked up to and when i met
them the vibe was oh you’re not important. Hawkins who was a huge fan of nirvana and
foo fighters first record noticed a camaraderie and likeness between himself and grohl as
they smoked together and talked about their favourite music. They would reconnect in the
summer of 1996 when they played some shows together in europe.Hawkins would admit that
alanis morissette predicted he would join foo fighters at the time telling the Daily
Mirror “We met the Foo Fighters when I was still playing with her, and she said, 'Dave
[Grohl]’s gonna ask you to join them someday.' She called it a year before it happened."
The following year in 1997, Foo fighters were now without a drummer. Grohl would call up hawkins
to see if he knew any good drummers. Keep in mind foo fighters were still an up and
coming band and were nowhere near as popular as they are today . Grohl would recall that
conversation with hawkins saying “he said ‘f*** yeah i’ll do it. I reminded him we weren’t
selling out stadiums like alanis and he said ‘i don’t care man i just want to be in
a f***** rock band. To Hawkins alanis was a solo act and he wanted to play more hard
rock music. The move surprised Grohl who told entertainment weekly I thought he would never
leave Alanis’ band. At the time, they were packing stadiums around the world. And what,
he’s going to jump in our red Dodge van and play the f**** Viper Room again?” he's
an amazing drummer and we have 2 different styles and he does his thing and I do my
thing and he adds so much to the songs that it's like sometimes too much. Did I say that.
But I mean I can see other drummers being in the band and feeling weird and intimidated
but we do two totally different things and I think we have a mutual respect for each
other and it's awesome and it works perfect and you couldn't find a better drummer so.
The on-boarding process for Hawkins wasn’t smooth though. The first day of rehearsals
guitarist Pat Smear announced he was quitting
the band telling Grohl and company that they should
consider being a three piece. The band was in a tough spot having already booked a tour
and having their second album to promote.. For Smear he was tired of life on the road
and was eldest band member. The band managed to talk smear to stay in the band for another
six months until they found a replacement which they did in Grohl’s old scream bandmate
Franz Stahl. ’ Taylor’s first show with foo fighters would happen on april 19, 1997
at a secret gig in santa monica at the alligator lounge. The band would spend the next year
and a half on the road.
The band would get off the road in 1998 and Grohl gave some insights into where the band’s
third record could go in the book this is a call saying “now i’m looking forward to our
next record more than i ever have been. For a while i was thinking. God what are we gonna
do for our next record. Taylor plays piano and guitar and writes songs and sings. Nate
writes stuff. It’s just gonna be the freak out record.”While the album was recorded
as a three piece, in the documentary back and forth hawkins revealed he pushed for the
band to remain as a three piece, but Grohl wanted more guitars and so chris schifflett
was added to the group.
Taylor would play on half of the tracks on the band’s third record, There is Nothing
Left to Lose. admitting it was a nerve wracking experience to rolling stone revealing “I
was so scared when we went to go do Nothing Left To Lose. I had red light fever so bad.”
Work would begin on foo fighters 4th record in August of 2000 with Grohl and Hawkins coming
up with song ideas.
The band would spend the remainder of the year and a good chunk of 2001 on the road.
By the summer of 2001 the band hit some rough times. While on tour in the UK, Hawkins would
suffer a near fatal drug overdose following the band’s performance at the V2001 Festival.
He would spend 2 weeks in a coma and it would result in the Foo’s cancelling the remainder
of their tour dates. A press release that was sent out by the band’s management claimed
that Hawkins had and i quote “apparently overindulged” at a party following the festival
performance.
The drummer would express regret over his actions telling Spin magazine in 2002 “I
took it too far,” “but thank God I did take it too far, and I didn’t croak, and
I’m here to know how dumb I was and how lame my life had become. I was just becoming
a clichéd rock idiot. But I wouldn’t take any of it away — none of the times I got
high, not even the overdose. Because I learned so much about myself through the whole thing.”
Once Hawkins had recovered The band would retreat to Taylor’s studio in Topanga, Calif
to work on their fourth record, but the band wasn’t getting along. In 2002 Grohl would
admit to Billboard just how tense and unsuccessful the sessions were revealing
“At the time, we were making an album that wasn't working. We'd started in October of
2001. After about three-and-a-half months, I realized it didn't sound familiar. It didn't
sound like the band does live. It didn't feel right. With our band, the most important thing
is that the songs feel right and the recordings feel good. It's more about the feel than anything.
We were so focused on production, because our intent was to make this big rock record.
But your energy tends to wane after three months. Spontaneity and energy have a lot
to do with rock, and rock records shouldn't take long to make.”
The Foo’s fourth album would be the first time new guitarist Chris Schiflett would be
in the studio with the group. He would reveal in the Back and Forth documentary. “It was
bizarre, it was my first record with the band. i’d just show up to the studio everyday
i was sort of confused It’s really weird I’m never really playing on this and you
know i’d show up at noon everyday and i’d kind of sit here and eat food and drink coffee
and then i go home. What is this?
Bassist Nade Mendel meanwhile would give his version of events saying “I’d so something
and Dave would listen to it and say like no this has gotta change and this is not working
with the vocals and that's too busy and i was disagreeing so i had a shitty attitude."
The band would spend time in several studios between October of 2001 and February of 2002.
These sessions alone cost the band over a million dollars in production costs. By February
of 2002 the band submitted their record to their manager John Silva who wasn’t very
enthusiastic about what he heard. According to Mendel, Silva said “well we could put
this out but i don’t know if we’ll be able to sell any of them.
In April of 2002 Foo Fighters got an offer to perform at Coachella as did Queens of the
Stone Age, a band Grohl was playing in at the time.. Grohl would perform one night with
Queens while the other night he would play with Foo Fighters. The Foo’s would reconvene
ahead of Coachella to rehearse and there was
a lot of tension in the room. Grohl was disappointed
that Hawkins hadn’t seen him play with Queens of the Stone Age while Taylor was still reeling
from his overdose. A fight would erupt between the band mates and the pair vowed that Coachella
would be their final gig together.
But the Back and Forth documentary outlined how the gig at Coachella went really well
and Hawkins felt that Grohl seemed like a new frontman. Afterwards Dave and Taylor talked
about going back to Grohl’s home in Virginia and re-recording the album. The recording
sessions would go a lot smoother and their fourth album one by one would be a huge success
going platinum in America, peaking at number 3 on the billboard charts and producing the
two massive hits ‘All My Life’ and ‘Times Like These.’ It was around this time Hawkins
appeared to have turned his life around: exercising
more, eating healthier and giving up smoking while also getting married to his wife Allison.
in 2005 he would start the side project
The Coattail Riders that provided a sharp contrast to his life in Foo Fighters who were
now playing arenas and headlining major festivals.
Hawkins didn’t stop at just one side project
as he also started in other bands includingBirds of Satan
and NHC with several members of Jane’s Addiction and the cover band Chevy Metal. NHC bassist
Chris Chaney telling Rolling Stone “He never wanted to sit home and chill,” He always
had a purpose when he got up in the morning. He wanted to start a new group, write a song,
or go play in a cover band. He just had to create.”
By the end of the 2010’s Foo Fighters members were now in their 50’s and their schedule
showed no signs of slowing. It wasn’t until the pandemic in 2020 that the members got
some downtime. By the summer of 2021 as life seemed to return more or less back to normal
the Foo’s would head back out on the road, but Hawkins would tell his close friends according
to Rolling Stone he had some reservations about touring so much.
2021 saw the band promote their new album Medicine at Midnight, while also releasing
their first theatrical film Studio 666 . An anonymous friend of Hawkins
would tell Rolling Stone “Taylor knew he didn’t have it in him. And he was trying
to deliver.”
In late 2021 Foo Fighters played a handful of gigs in Las Vegas, Fresno and Sacramento.
They were scheduled to head over to the middle east to play at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in
December, but the gig was cancelled after Hawkins collapsed on the band’s plane during
a stop over in Chicago. Close friend of Hawkins, Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers would tell
Rolling Stone “That was one of the straws that broke the camel’s back. After that,
he had a real important heart-to-heart with Dave and the management. He said, ‘I can’t
continue on this schedule, and so we’ve got to figure out something.'”
This is where we get into the game of he said she said. Following publication of Rolling
Stone’s article on Taylor Hawkin’s final days, Foo Fighters management put out a statement
claiming hawkins did not collapse on the plane and that there was never a heart to heart
talk with management or Grohl about the band’s touring schedule. In fact Chad Smith
and Matt Cameron who were interviewed for the article had to distance themselves from
the piece once it was published. So make of it what you will.
In late 2021 Hawkins former drum tech named Yeti who was still close with the drummer
would tell the magazine “He was looking anorexic there for a while. Right before they left
for South America [this year] he told me, ‘Man, Yeti, you’d be so proud of me. I
got a trainer. I’m doing things right. I’ve gained 15 pounds already. I’m getting things
back on track.’ He was definitely stressed out over the last couple years, because he
definitely was showing it in his weight.”
In February of this year Hawkins would celebrate his 50th birthday. A few weeks later the Foo’s
would travel down to Mexico and South America for what would be their final tour with Hawkins.
The drummer’s final show with the band would take place on March 20 in Argentina at the
Lolapalooza festival. It was during that gig Grohl told the crowd about Hawkins “He’s
the best f***** drummer in the world,” with Hawkins responding “I f***** love Dave Grohl,
man,” “I’d be delivering pizzas if it wasn’t for f***** Dave Grohl.”
Foo Fighters next gig in Paraguay would be cancelled due to inclement weather. The band
would then move onto Bogotá, Colombia, where they were supposed to headline a festival on March
25th. According to those close to him including Producer Andrew Watt, Hawkins was in a good
mood. Watt was speaking with Hawkins about working with Ozzy on his next album.
And on March 25th, the day of their Columbia show, Foo Fighters were staying at the Four Seasons
hotel when Hawkins placed a call to the front desk complaining of chest pains. Paramedics
would arrive at 7:40 PM and Hawkins was announced dead on the scene. The authorities in columbia
released a preliminary autopsy report that claiming that several substances
in his body including pot, antidepressants,
benzos, opiates and that the drummer seemed to have an enlarged heart.
Following the news of Hawkins death the band would announce the cancellation of their upcoming
shows and tributes would pour in from friends and fellow musicians. A few days after the
news, the band returned to LA and were captured
by paparazzi at the airport meeting their longtime manager Jon Silva.
Those close to Hawkins expressed shock and disbelief in the news. Whether Foo Fighters will
continue without hawkins remains to be seen, but the band this month is performing two
tribute shows this month to honor their fallen friend.
As for whether we’ll hear any new material from Hawkins, friend and producer Andrew Watt
would reveal the drummer left behind a lot of unreleased music. Whether that’s for
just his side projects or Foo Fighters still isn’t fully clear. Let’s just take the
time to enjoy these tribute shows and see what lies ahead for the band in the future.
That does it for today's video guys thanks for watching. Be sure to hit the like button
and subscribe and we'll see you again on rock n' roll true stories. Take care.