Today we will tell you about the energetic and talented singer and drummer Taylor Hawkins, who passed away on March 2022.
(Photo: Owen Sweeney)
1. His full name is Oliver Taylor Hawkins and he was born on February 17, 1972, in Fort Worth, Texas.
2. But he grew up in Laguna Beach, California from the age of four.
3. Hawkins attended Laguna Beach High School where he played in his first band, Sylvia.
4. He said the drummers who influenced him the most were: Phil Collins, Stewart Copeland, Roger Taylor, Stephen Perkins, Jim Gordon, and Neil Peart.
5. In 1994 he left the band and joined as a drummer on the Canadian singer Sass Jordan's tour following the release of her third album "Rats".
6. In 1995 after the release of the album "Jagged Little Pill" which was the breakthrough album and the third of singer Alanis Morissette, Hawkins joined Alanis's band and became her tour drummer until 1997.
7. At the end of 1996 the Foo Fighters "lost" their drummer William Goldsmith after he decided to leave the band immediately after the recording of the second album "The Color and the Shape".
The album was scheduled for release in May 1997 but the band lacked a drummer. Dave Grohl, who knew Hawkins during Alanis' tour, approached him to recommend a drummer for his band. But Dave did not expect Hawkins to want the role himself !!
The two met in Hawkins's house and it was love at first site !!
(Photo: Brantley Gutierrez)
8. On March 18th, 1997, Hawkins officially joined the Foo Fighters which also became the main band in his life.
9. In 1998, Hawkins participated in guitarist Brian May's second solo album called "Another World" and recorded the drums for the song "Cyborg".
10. In 1999 the Foo's released their first album with Hawkins and the third as a band "There Is Nothing Left to Lose" which they recorded in the studio Dave built in the basement of his house, where the social and musical relationship was forged and continued until Taylor's death. The album won the band their first Grammy in 2001 "Best Rock Album Award".
11. But the recordings for this album were not easy, a new scoop is coming in 3... 2... 1...
12. In a session held in 2019 for the BBC network, Hawkins said he had a very hard time recording for his first album with The Foos. He had no experience in recording, he only played live shows, and when they started recording he was unable to maintain consistency. He kept missing the rhythm and did not maintain the same paste throughout the song. After numerous failed attempts Hawkins was broken, so much, he suggested that the recordings for the albums will be done by Dave, and Hawkins himself would serve as a drummer only for the live performances. Do you realize???
13. Dave did not accept Hawkins' offer and put to work hard until he succeeded. Despite the improvement Hawkins showed, Dave eventually recorded half of the songs on the album himself and the other half was recorded by Hawkins. On the future albums, Hawkins already plays the drums in all the songs.
(Photo: guestpostgallery)
14. Hawkins is not only a drummer in the band, but he also occasionally sings and plays piano and guitar. His first recording as a singer in the band was performing a cover of the song "Have a Cigar" by "Pink Floyd", which came out as a B-Side for the single of the song "Learn to Fly".
15. Hawkins went through a life-changing event in 2001 when he experienced an extreme situation when he went into a state of coma for two weeks as a result of an overdose. He said he was not a drug addict but he liked to party a lot and in one case he took the "wrong" line and found himself on the floor, it was a moment that changed his life.
16. In 2002 came out the band's fourth album "One By One", this album was also very successful and gave the band a Grammy win in 2004 the Best Rock Album award. By the way... this is the band's least favorite album.
17. In 2005 came out the band's fifth and double album "In Your Honor". One part consists of hard rock distortion songs, and the other part consists of softer acoustic songs. Although the album was nominated for five Grammy Awards, it did not win.
18. This is the first album where Hawkins can be heard taking on the role of lead singer and he does so in the song "Cold Day in the Sun".
19. He also sang the cover of the song "I Feel Free" by the band Cream, which came out as a B-Side to the single "DOA" from the same album.
20. In 2005 he was named Rhythm Magazine’s "Best Rock Drummer".
21. In 2006 the band released the live album "Skin and Bones" which was recorded in three acoustic performances that took place in Los Angeles at the end of August.
22. In 2007 the group released their sixth album "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace". This time the album gave the band back the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album and five nominations.
23. This is the first album where Hawkins plays keyboards and it happened in the song "Summer's End".
24. That same year, Hawkins filled the drummer's place in the recordings for "Coheed and Cambria's" fourth album.
25. In the same year Hawkins and Dave came to the aid of guitarist Chris Shiflett who recorded his second album "Harmony and Dissidence" with his side project Jackson United. They recorded the part of the drums on the album when Chris got stuck at the last minute without a drummer.
(Photo: Daniel DeSlover)
26. At Foo's performance in Toronto in 2008, two members of the band "Rush", Geddy and Alex, came on stage a surprise and played with Hawkins the instrumental piece "YYZ" of Rush.
27. In 2010 Hawkins starred in the song "Crucify the Dead" in the role of backing vocals on Slash's debut album, in this song the singer is none other than Ozzy Osbourne.
28. In 2011 the band's seventh album "Wasting Light" was released. This is an album recorded exclusively by the analog system and it was done with the producer of Nirvana in "Nevermind" by none other than Butch Vig. This time the band breaks Grammy records and wins four awards.
29. In 2014, the band released their eighth album "Sonic Highways". It is an album of 8 songs each recorded in a different city in the US and influenced by the musical history of each city.
30. That same year, Hawkins formed the progressive/hard rock band "The Birds of Satan" with Wiley Hodgden on bass and Mick Murphy on guitar. They released a single album that year bearing the band's name.
31. The Foss' eighth album was released in 2017 and is "Concrete and Gold". Dave described the album theme as "Hope and Despair", when on this album they took Greg Kurstin who is a famous pop album producer and this is the first hard rock album he is producing.
32. On this album Hawkins took on the role of singing in the song "Sunday Rain".
33. The band's ninth album was out in 2021 and is "Medicine at Midnight". This album is different from what we are used to getting from the Foos. It's bouncing, It's happy, It's catchy It's a party. This album also holds the record as Foos' shortest studio album, with only 36 minutes of music. Dave stated that he wanted to produce a "fun" album something like "Let's Dance" by David Bowie. He noted that this album did not sound like anything else the band has done to date. It has such catchy chants that 50,000 fans will scream together in live shows. Taylor also noted that this album is more pop-oriented than their previous albums and confirmed that drumming loops were used during the recordings.
34. In all of the Foos' performances, Hawkins sings at least one song as a lead singer while Dave on drums, cover, or original.
35. Hawkins has a nice and funny "tick", when he hits his snare he closes/pressed his eyes and his mouth opens when his teeth are pressed as if he has now snatched a blow and not the snare. Pay attention to that...
36. In 2006 Hawkins formed a band as a side project for Foss called "Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders" in which he serves as singer and drummer with "Jane's Addiction" bassist Chris Chaney whom he met in Alanis Morissette's band and guitarist Gannin Arnold.
37. In 2004 he began writing material that came out on the band's first album in March 2006, an album bearing the band's name.
38. In April 2010, the band released their second album "Red Light Fever" featuring several distinguished guests such as Brian May and Roger Taylor from "Queen" and Elliot Easton from "The Cars" and Dave. On this album, Hawkins plays drums and sings.
39. In November 2019, Hawkins and his band released their third album, "Get the Money", featuring an insane mix of stars and an even more insane variety of genres. Some of the standout guests on the album besides Dave, are Duff McKagan, Nancy Wilson, Joe Walsh, Steve Jones, Roger Taylor, Chrissie Hynde, and more and more...
40. In 2020 two great drummers, Hawkins and Matt Cameron join forces and decides to put some music together as the "Nighttime Boogie Association". Unfortunately, the project does not last long and they release only two singles.
41. Hawkins served as a drummer in recordings of several songs by Italian singer Vasco Rossi.
42. Hawkins has another special band called Chevy Metal which is a superstar cover band !! With Hawkins on drums and Wiley Hodgden being the regular members of the band, all other members of the band vary from show to show with members from bands such as "The Police", "Motley Crue", "Sex Pistols", "Cheap Trick" and "The Red Hot Chili Peppers".
43. Hawkins was married to Alison and they have three children.
(Photo: Magdalena Wosinska)
44. In July 2021, the band returns the disco to the stage and releases a cover album of the great songs of the Bee-Gees band, they release the album under the name Dee-Gees and the album is called "Hail Satin".
45. In September 2021 the three members: Taylor, Dave Navarro, and Chris Chaney form the "NHC" band consisting of the members' last names. The Power Trio releases two songs from an upcoming album that was recorded during the year and should come out in 2022.
46. In October 2021, Taylor entered the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" with the "Foo fighters". In his speech, he thanked Paul McCartney, among others, and noted that he shared the award with "Jane's Addiction" and "Soundgarden", which he would like to see at the "Hall of Fame".
47. Taylor worked with a long and t variety of musicians, not only behind the drum set but also as a composer, producer, writer, and more. He definitely has music notes running in his veins. as far as we know the last project he was part of, was Nancy Wilson's debut solo album named "You and Me" which was issued in 2021.
48. On February 25, 2022, Taylor and his friends from "Foo Fighters" debuted their comic-horror movie "Studio 666".
49. On March 25, 2022, the fictional band "Dream Widow" which starred in this movie, released its debut album.
50. On the same day, on March 25, 2022, Taylor was found dead in a hotel in Bogota, where he was scheduled to perform alongside the "Foo Fighters". He was only 50 years old. Bogota municipality has issued a statement saying the city's emergency services have received a call about a patient complaining of "chest pain". Ambulances were sent to the "Four Seasons Casa Medina", where the band was staying, but health workers who tried to resuscitate him were forced to declare him dead.
51. In September of that year, the band held two huge tribute shows in honor of their beloved drummer. One took place in London and the other in Los Angeles and they included a long list of artists that Taylor loved, admired, grew up on or played with.
52. In May 2023, the band announced (in their comical way) Taylor's replacement, Josh Freese, who is a friend of the band and has played with them several times.