The first of the Foo Fighters' two planned Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts was an epic and emotional evening. With a 50-song set list featuring many of the rock world's biggest names, the night brought tears of both joy and sadness, as Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters led the music world in the communal processing of grief through song.
On a night full of performances from some of rock's biggest names, the biggest ovation was saved for a member of the Hawkins family, with Taylor's own teenage son Oliver Shane Hawkins's stellar performance of My Hero, earning a raucous standing ovation from the crowd. The junior Hawkins's ability behind the kit and his composure in what must have been an incredibly emotional moment would have made his late father very proud. Watch the powerful performance below.
Performances from fellow modern rock titans Oasis's Liam Gallagher, Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme, blink-182's Travis Barker, Supergrass, and of course, the remaining Foo Fighters themselves, underlined the influence of Hawkins's work amongst his contemporaries, while nods from the likes of Billie Eilish and The Struts, as well as 12-year-old YouTube, start Nandi Bushell, reinforced his continued cultural relevancy.
There were contributions from Hawkins's childhood heroes too, including Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, Metallica's Lars Ulrich, The Pretenders and even The Beatles' Sir Paul McCartney, who rocked the house with Chrissie Hynde on Oh! Darling, and led the Foos cover of Helter Skelter. For a student of rock history as Hawkins was, there could have been no more monumental or fitting tribute than to have his idols turned contemporaries honour him via song.
If these heartfelt tributes have you wanting to reconnect with the music of Taylor Hawkins and you're not sure where to start, there are worse places than our Best Of Taylor playlist. Hawkins' last known recorded output was the Foo Fighters 2021 record Medicine At Midnight, which picked up three Grammy Awards in April.
Hawkins was last seen in Australia playing a massive one-off show at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong, Victoria, earlier this month where he was his usual energetic, captivating self, dominating behind the kit and then leading the crowd in a massive cover of Queen's Somebody To Love on vocals.
Listen to Taylor Hawkins
