Taylor Hawkins

Born in Texas in 1972, Taylor Hawkins moved to California as a child, where his music career began. After playing in the band Slyvia, he became the drummer for Sass Jordan. Between 1995 and 1997, Hawkins played the drums for Alanis Morrisette during her ‘Jagged Little Pill’ and ‘Can’t Not’ tour.

Conflicts between Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and William Goldsmith led the latter to leave the band, opening up the space for a new drummer. This led to Hawkins’ recruitment in 1997. The drummer demonstrated his multi-talented abilities by playing the guitar, piano and even singing on certain tracks.

He later formed his solo project, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, in 2006, releasing three albums over 13 years. The drummer contributed to many other side projects, such as work alongside Queen’s Brian May, Eric Avery from Jane’s Addiction, and Slash’s solo material.

Furthermore, Hawkins created a covers band in 2013 called Chevy Metal and a supergroup called The Birds of Satan the following year. In 2021, he made another supergroup with Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney called NHC. Hawkins also ventured into acting, starring as Iggy Pop in ‘CBGB’ and himself in ‘Studio 666’.

The drummer played his last gig with Foo Fighters on March 20th, 2022, at Lollapalooza Festival in Argentina. Hawkins was found dead in his hotel room on March 25th, aged 50. Following his death, he was awarded three posthumous Grammys for his work in music. Later in the year, his bandmates and fellow musicians honoured the drummer at several tribute concerts, which included performances from Paul McCartney, Roger Taylor, Josh Homme and Nile Rogers.