Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins: A Tribute

Taylor Hawkins joined the Foo Fighters in 1997 - previously he had worked as a drummer for Sass Jordan and Alanis Morissette. When conflict lead previous Foo Fighters drummer William Goldsmith to quit, Hawkins became his replacement and soon established himself as the only drummer for the Foos, developing a strong friendship and working relationship with band leader Dave Grohl. An overdose in 2001 nearly cost Hawkins not just his place in the band but his life, but he came out of the experience stronger than ever - and dedicated to a clean and healthy lifestyle.

For more information on the history of the Foo Fighters and Taylor's part in the band, read my extended article The Foo Fighters: More Than Everything You Ever Needed to Know.

"[Taylor] and I have a connection that I've never felt with another person in a band. I know that Taylor will be in my life for the rest of my life. ... Taylor needs to be recognized as one of the best drummers you've ever seen in your life. I mean, I would have nothing less in my life, especially as a drummer. That plays a huge role in everything to me. Just because--if I'm not having a good show, I want to turn around and watch Taylor, so that I'm entertained. And it happens every night. He can make me laugh with his drumming. It's the greatest thing in the world. So not only do I understand him as a person, we can speak to each other musically. It's pretty cool." - Dave Grohl, Spin Magazine, June 19 2003

My path to becoming a fan of Taylor's was fairly unusual. I'd certainly heard the music of the Foo Fighters before on the radio and TV but had never paid them too much attention until the publicity campaign for "In Your Honor" in the summer of 2005. I was surfing around one of my favorite message boards at the time - Ian Copeland's "Ask Uncle Ian" forum - when someone posted he was heading down to Times Square because he'd just seen Stewart Copeland hanging out with the Foo Fighters at MTV studios. (Keep in mind, most of us at AUI were huge Stewart Copeland/Police fans; it was our main "hangout" at the time.) Sure enough, MTV2 was running its "24 Hours of Foo" special and Stewart had shown up to play bucket drums out in the street and hang out for the band for a while.

I'd heard mention previously that Taylor Hawkins was a big fan of Stewart's playing, and not long after I saw a drumming magazine had a joint feature/interview on the two of them where it turned out they had become good friends. I figured any drummer - like Taylor - who had my favorite drummer's approval had to be worth checking out. So I spent a little more time listening to the Foo Fighters, including picking up "In Your Honor," and quickly became a fan.

I found what I really loved about the Foos was their energy and sense of fun and humor. This was a band that made good music and seemed to have a lot of fun doing so. I saw them in concert and found they were one of the best live bands out there today - really interacting with the audience and putting on a great show.

Taylor certainly impressed me with his drumming, but it was when he came out with his first solo album, "Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders," that I really took notice. I enjoyed the music on that album almost more than I enjoyed the Foo Fighters songs, as it had a very retro-70s vibe that I enjoyed and I quite liked Taylor's singing voice - along with his drumming! When he toured in support of the album in 2006 I saw him play at the tiny North Star Bar in Philadelphia, which really gave me the chance to appreciate his drumming close up. I loved that he was cool enough to simply hang out with fans before the show, eating dinner with the band and not putting on any "rock star" airs at all.