Friends of Taylor Hawkins have reflected on the late Foo Fighters drummer’s state of mind in the weeks leading up to his death.
Hawkins died on 25 March while the Foo Fighters were on tour in Colombia. It is not yet known what Hawkins died of, but a toxicology report confirmed there were 10 different substances in his body including marijuana, opioids and antidepressants.
In the weeks since Hawkins’ death, Rolling Stone has interviewed 20 people, including several of the drummer’s best friends, about his life and career, and his outlook in his final months.
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They told the publication that Hawkins had felt hesitant about returning to the road for Foo Fighters’ huge post-pandemic comeback tour, saying he was worried about having the energy to play lively three-hour shows every night.
Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, a close friend of Hawkins, told Rolling Stone: “He had a heart-to-heart with Dave [Grohl, the band’s frontman] and, yeah, he told me that he ‘couldn’t f***ing do it anymore’ – those were his words…
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“So I guess they did come to some understanding, but it just seems like the touring schedule got even crazier after that.”
When contacting by Rolling Stone, a representative for Foo Fighters denied that Hawkins ever raised these issues.
Taylor Hawkins
Taylor Hawkins
(PA Wire)
Hawkins’ old friend and former boss, the singer Sass Jordan, added: “Honestly, I think he was just so tired. Tired of the whole game.”
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A colleague and friend of Hawkins said that it “took f***ing balls” for the drummer to have that talk with Grohl, adding: “That did take a year of working up the guts to do.”
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Another anonymous friend claimed that Hawkins was being pressured to do more concerts. At the time of Hawkins’ death, Foo Fighters had nearly 60 more shows lined up for 2022.
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In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, the drummer had admitted that he was “trying really hard to figure out how to continue to keep the intensity of a young man in a 50-year-old’s body, which is very difficult”.
The Independent has contacted a representative of Foo Fighters for comment.
Hawkins’ family members and bandmates declined to do interviews for Rolling Stone’s story, but a band representative did dispute Hawkins’ friends’ accounts of how he was feeling.
