Photo by Stephen Bloch

Originally published on Jambands.com on March 26, 2022

Last night, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was found dead in his hotel room in Bogota, Colombia. He was 50 years old.

News of Hawkins’ untimely death was announced by Foo Fighters late Friday evening. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band wrote. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”

The cause of death has not yet been disclosed.

Hawkins was found just hours before Foo Fighters’ headlining set at Festival Estéreo. A large display of candles was spread out upon the stage instead of the performance.

Hawkins joined Foo Fighters in 1997, replacing the band’s first drummer, William Goldsmith. He appeared on all the band’s studio albums from 1999’s There Is Nothing Left to Lose to 2021’s Medicine at Midnight.

In Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Ghrol’s recent autobiography The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music, he wrote of meeting Hawkins, “Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we played together. I am not afraid to say that our chance meeting was a kind of love at first sight, igniting a musical ‘twin flame’ that still burns t this day. Together, we have become an unstoppable duo, onstage and off, in pursuit of any and all adventure we can find. We are absolutely meant to be, and I am grateful that we found each other in this lifetime.”

Before he joined Foo Fighters, Hawkins drummed in Alanis Morissette’s touring band. Additionally, he fronted several side-projects, including the covers band Chevy Metal, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders and The Birds of Satan.

Hawkins’ death comes at an intensely active time for the band, who currently have an extensive tour scheduled for 2022 with many headlining festival slots, a recently released horror-comedy film Studio 666, and a performance at the upcoming Grammy Awards. Additionally, in their first year of eligibility, Foo Fighters were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2021.

In the hours since his passing, a massive outpouring of condolences and tributes have come from fans and contemporaries. Ozzy Osbourne, who recently asked Hawkins to handle drums on his upcoming solo album, tweeted, “Taylor Hawkins was truly a great person and an amazing musician. My heart, my love and my condolences go out to his wife, his children, his family, his band and his fans. See you on the other side.”

Other musicians who have shared tributes and consolations, including Ringo Starr, who Tweeted a black-and-white photo of Hawkins smiling, Travis Barker toured with Foo Fighters who wrote, “don’t have the words. Sad to write this or to never see you again. I’ll never forget Laguna Beach days when I was a trash man playing in a punk rock band and you were playing with Alanis. You’d come watch me play in dive bars and be like, ‘kid you’re a star’.” Tom Morello, Gene Simmons, FINNEAS, Guns N’ Roses and many more.

On Feb. 17, 1972, Hawkins was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He is survived by his wife Alison, his son Oliver Shane and his daughters Annabelle and Everleigh.