Foo Fighters confirm they will continue without Taylor Hawkins in New Year’s message - ‘with us in spirit’
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Foo Fighters, perhaps the world’s biggest rock band, have confirmed that they will continue on as a band despite the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died earlier this year. The news came as the band released a New Year’s message on social media after the incredibly difficult event for lead singer Dave Grohl.
Writing on their accounts, the band revealed: “As we say goodbye to the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known, we are reminded of how thankful we are for the people that we love and cherish most, and for the loved ones who are no longer with us.
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Hide Ad“Foo Fighters were formed 27 years ago to represent the healing power of music and a continuation of life, and for the past 27 years, our fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all get through the darkest of times together. A place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join a chorus of life together through music.”
The message continues: “Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward. We also know that you, the fans, meant as much to Taylor as he meant to you. And we know that when we see you again — and we will soon — he’ll be there in spirit with all of us every night.”
Speculation mounted whether the band, formed after the death of Grohl’s Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain as a means to continue making music, would carry on without Hawkins. It has been well documented how close Hawkins and Grohl were, including Grohl’s harrowing experience after Hawkins overdosed in 2001 in London.
Hawkins, formerly a drummer for Alanis Morisette’s backing band during her Jagged Little Pill era, joined Foo Fighters in 1997 after the ugly parting between original drummer William Goldsmith of Sunny Day Real Estate fame, and ended up drumming on eight of the band’s studio albums.
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Hide AdHawkins’ also had his own side project, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, who released three albums in their own right across 2006 and 2019 when he wasn’t juggling Foo Fighters commitments. His last drumming session known to date is his appearances on Ozzy Osbourne’s 2022 song, Patient 9.
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