Friends of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins have claimed he was uncomfortable with the intensity of the band’s touring schedule after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided.
According to a number of friends, Hawkins expressed discomfort with the band’s touring schedule – saying he struggled to keep up with the physical demands of the job, which often required him to play three-hour gigs at night. after night.
The drummer, 50, who was found dead in his Bogotá hotel room on March 25 before a show that night, reportedly spoke to Foos frontman Dave Grohl and several friends about his concerns.
The report of rolling stone contains several denials by representatives of the Foo Fighters. The publication said it repeatedly asked Hawkins’ family members and bandmates for interviews to corroborate the claims, but Hawkins’ family declined to comment. The Foo Fighters and their management also did not want to be interviewed.
The report alleges that prior to the Foo Fighters’ post-pandemic comeback, which kicked off last June with mandatory vaccination gigs in Los Angeles and New York’s Madison Square Garden, “Hawkins was reluctant to hit the road again and was not not sure he would.” to be able to remain a full-time member if they continued to tour at this rate”.
Although he was in good physical shape, friends claimed that Hawkins was not comfortable with maintaining such a performance. “He had a heart to heart with Dave [Grohl] and, yeah, he told me he ‘couldn’t fucking do it anymore’ – those are his words,” said Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, a close friend of Hawkins for decades. rolling stone.
“So I guess they hit it off, but it seems like the touring schedule got even crazier after that.” A representative for Foo Fighters denied that Hawkins ever raised these issues, saying, “No, there was never a ‘heart to heart’ – or any kind of meeting on that subject – with Dave and [Silva Artist Management].”
Longtime friend and former Hawkins boss singer Sass Jordan added: “Honestly, I think he was so tired. Tired of the whole game.
“The fact that he finally spoke to Dave and really told him he couldn’t do this and he wouldn’t do it again, that was a release for him,” said a colleague and friend of Hawkins. , who asked to remain anonymous. mentioned. “It took fucking balls. It took a year of gut work to do it.
While Hawkins’ friends who were interviewed argued that he wanted a change, a Foo Fighters rep said, “He never ‘informed Dave and [management]’ nothing at all like that.
Elsewhere, multiple friends claimed Hawkins passed out on a plane in Chicago despite news reports at the time describing him anonymously as “a member of the Foo Fighters.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith claimed, “He just said he was exhausted and collapsed, and they had to pump him full of IVs and stuff. He was dehydrated and all kinds of things.
After the incident, Smith claims Hawkins told him, “I can’t do this like this anymore.”
When asked if Foo Fighters had commented on the allegations that Hawkins passed out on the plane, a rep replied, “That’s not true.”
Hawkins said rolling stone last June that he was struggling with the band’s return to playing live music after the pandemic. “I’m really nervous about tonight,” he said on the day of the band’s first comeback in June. “I have major stage fright – major, major, major. Like, today is like, I’m in hell right now.
In late March, an initial toxicology report revealed that multiple drugs, including opiates, antidepressants and marijuana, were found in Hawkins’ system at the time of his death.
Earlier this month, Pearl Jam paid tribute to Hawkins at a concert in Los Angeles by covering the Foo Fighters’ 2005 song “Cold Day In The Sun.”
The Red Hot Chili Peppers also recently paid tribute to Hawkins during their headliner at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.