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Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert: the late drummer's 16-year-old son stole the show

It speaks volumes about the vast and enduring popularity of the Foo Fighters that a tribute concert to late drummer Taylor Hawkins, who was found dead in a Bogota hotel room in March, should take place in the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium, a venue usually reserved for the highest echelon of very-much-alive performers. Not only this, but the six-hour show – you read that correctly, six – was live-streamed around the world with a second concert planned in Los Angeles for later this month. You can’t imagine other famous drummers such as Phil Collins or even Ringo Starr receiving such a send-off.

Dave Grohl plays guitar and Shane Hawkins plays drums onstage at Wembley Stadium - Reuters© Reuters

Wembley was an apt venue. The last tribute concert to be held there was the Concert for Diana in 2007. Hawkins was – to adapt a quote – the people’s drummer, and I mean that in as sincere a way as is possible. With his winning and slightly goofy smile, his charisma, his flailing blond hair and his immense skills behind the kit, he was likeable and relatable. People felt they knew him. 

It was another Wembley tribute concert, though, that Foos’ frontman Dave Grohl clearly had in mind when he put this show together. The 1992 tribute concert to Hawkins’ beloved Freddie Mercury of Queen was the blueprint for this event, which featured a sprawling who’s who of rock royalty playing songs that influenced Hawkins and performing with the remaining Foo Fighters on their greatest hits.

Grohl and his bandmates took to the stage at 4.30pm to a minutes-long ovation, the emotion of it all clearly etched on their faces. The singer promised “a gigantic f------ night for a gigantic f------ person”, and he didn’t disappoint. Liam Gallagher joined the band for Rock ‘N’ Roll Star and so started an extraordinary musical bonanza. There were too many musicians to name, but they included Nile Rodgers and Josh Homme playing David Bowie, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones playing Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Brian Johnson of AC/DC and Lars Ulrich of Metallica performing Back in Black, Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder duetting with Queen, and surprise guest Paul McCartney singing Oh! Darling with Chrissie Hynde and rounding things off with a rollicking Helter Skelter. I calculated that the artists on stage (and the bands they play with) have sold well over two billion albums between them. Throw in comedians Dave Chappelle and Jason Sudeikis, who acted as comperes, and you have the very definition of star-studded. 

The Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl shows his emotion as he performs at Wembley Stadium - Scarlet Page© Scarlet Page

There was a serious, sad side. Although no cause of death was given regarding Hawkins, an initial toxicology report showed traces of 10 substances (including opioids and marijuana) in the 50-year-old’s body. His loss is still painfully raw. Grohl broke down in tears during Times Like These when he sang the line, “It’s times like these you learn to live again”. The most powerful moment, however, came when Hawkins’s 16-year-old son, Shane, played drums on My Hero. His skill and poise were breathtaking. “There goes my hero/ Watch him as he goes,” the lyrics went. His dad would have been proud.

The big question, of course, is what happens now. Do these shows represent a full stop or a comma in the Foo Fighters’ story? Do they call it a day or carry on with a new drummer? If it’s the latter, then Rufus Taylor, son of Queen’s Roger and a big part of the evening, must surely be the frontrunner. But that is perhaps a question for another time. 

This was a concert that celebrated music and a much-loved musician. It gave, perhaps, the beginnings of a sense of closure to those who loved him (including those 90,000 mates in front of the stage). It was a colourful, loud and moving send-off. You really hoped Hawkins was up there looking down, drumming along, arms flailing, that Cheshire Cat grin of his wider than ever. 

Reference: The Telegraph: James Hall