One of the saddest pieces of news to hit the music industry over the past few days was undoubtedly the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Passing away yesterday at the age of 50 in Bogotá, Colombia, it’s sent waves across the industry, with the likes of Brian May and Tom Morello paying their respects.
Despite the official cause of death not being announced, the Foo Fighters’ social media stated that they’re “devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of Taylor Hawkins. His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever.“
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) March 26, 2022
News travels fast, and on the same day, British band Coldplay felt the need to pay tribute as well in the way they know best – music. Playing a gig in Mexico’s Estadio BBVA as part of the tour for recent album Music of the Spheres, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin dedicated a performance of their track “Everglow“ to Hawkins.
Before playing the track, Martin said “We heard that a friend of ours in a great, great band called the Foo Fighters has passed away. We weren’t sure whether to talk about it in this concert but we have to because they’re our friends and we care about them. We feel like we should send love to the Foo Fighters, because we all knew Taylor, their drummer, who was a beautiful beautiful man, and so we’re gonna play this song for the Foo Fighters.”
.@coldplay le dedicó “Everglow” a Taylor Hawkins durante su show en el Estadio BBVA en Monterrey. Chris Martin reveló que justo antes de subir al escenario, la banda se enteró de la triste noticia del fallecimiento del baterista de los @foofighters pic.twitter.com/FZo9vmoEVD — Sopitas (@sopitas) March 26, 2022
It’s devastating news for all, taking the music industry completely by surprise. Hawkins had been up and active till only recently, playing a gig with the Foo Fighters in Buenos Aires’ Hipódromo de San Isidro just last Tuesday. Tom Morello said of him that “I loved your spirit and your unstoppable rock power. Rest In Peace my friend“, with Brian May admitting “you were family to us. Our friend, our brother, our beloved child. Bless you. We will miss you so bad.“
It’s not the only unfortunate passing that Chris Martin has paid tribute to this month through music. Cricket player Shane Warne’s death earlier this month (March 4th) caused Martin to send in an instrumental track titled “The Eulogy“ for his funeral last Sunday. Other Coldplay classics such as “Fix You“ and “Yellow“ (reportedly one of Warne’s favourites) featured at the event. A special state funeral coming up this Wednesday for Warne’s fans is expected to feature special video messages from Martin and fellow music icon Ed Sheeran.
