Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was ‘tired from the whole game’ and was planning ahead of his death

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had complained to confidants of being tired and unable to perform a full program before his death at age 50 in March.

Multiple sources have spoken to Rolling Stone more than a month after the veteran musician was found dead in a hotel in Colombia on March 25, saying Hawkins was unsure whether to tour again after the coronavirus pandemic and feared his ability to remain a full-time member of the band through a three-hour gig gauntlet.

The Foo Fighters and their representatives declined to be interviewed for the story, but told the publication that “characteristics of how [Hawkins] felt” were inaccurate.

Hawkins’ friend, vocalist Sass Jordan, told the drummer out: “Honestly, I think he was so tired.” Tired of the whole game.

Another Hawkins confidant, Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, told the outlet that Hawkins spoke with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl about his feelings.

Cameron told Rolling Stone: “He had a one-on-one with Dave and, yeah, he told me he ‘couldn’t do it anymore’ – those were his words. So I guess they hit it off, but it seems the touring schedule got even crazier after that.

A rep for the band said Hawkins never broached the subject with managers or Grohl and that “there was never a ‘heart-to-heart’ discussion” about the subject.

Cameron then took to Instagram on Tuesday with a statement about the story, saying he mistakenly believed it would be “a celebration of his life and work.”

He added: “My quotes have been taken out of context and twisted into a narrative that I never intended… I’m so sorry to have participated in this interview and I apologize that my participation may have caused any harm. to those for whom I have the deepest respect and admiration.

Cameron said he had “nothing but the deepest love for Taylor, Dave and the Foo Fighters families.”

Another friend of the late drummer, speaking to the outlet on condition of anonymity, said Hawkins was relieved after telling Grohl he was looking to step back.

“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,” the source said, adding that it “took f***ing balls” and “a year of gut work to do. (A Foo Fighters rep told Rolling Stone that Hawkins “never informed Dave and [management] nothing at all like that.’)

Friends of Hawkins said he continues to stay on the road out of loyalty to his bandmates and others who make a living working with the band.

Cameron told the outlet that a band like the Foo Fighters ‘are a big machine [with] a lot of people on the payroll, so you really have to be aware of the business side of something when it’s that big and there’s inherent pressure, like in any business.

The unnamed source told Rolling Stone that Hawkins was under pressure to perform in more shows, although he said he was “just going to do a few”, and he didn’t know how many he would be doing. had to participate. According to the outlet, the band played around 40 shows last year and had planned nearly 60 more this year.

The unnamed source said Hawkins called him to complain after learning that only one gig in Australia had been added to the band in March, as Hawkins understood the schedule would be lighter in the future.

“And he had every reason to believe it would happen,” the source said. “He wanted to believe it.

A representative for the band told Rolling Stone there was no indication that Hawkins was angry with the show in Australia or the program, which “has been established and in place for over a year”.

Hawkins had “no limit” on the number of shows he agreed to play, according to the rep.

Cameron told Rolling Stone that Hawkins “tried to follow” the schedule and “just did whatever it took to keep up, and in the end he couldn’t keep up.”

Hawkins last June told the outlet that he was dealing with stage fright anxiety and was “really trying to figure out how to continue to keep the intensity of a young man in the body of a 50-year-old man. , which is very difficult. .’

Many of Hawkins’ friends told the outlet that Hawkins passed out on a plane in Chicago last December.

Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith told the outlet Hawkins “was dehydrated and all kinds of things” and “just said he was exhausted and collapsed, and they had to pump him full of IVs.” and other things ; adding that he had told her: “I can’t do like this anymore”.

A Foo Fighters representative told Rolling Stone that the stories of the incident on the plane were “not true”.

Hawkins, who previously played drums for Alanis Morissette, joined the Foo Fighters in 1997 after William Goldsmith left the band, first appearing on the band’s 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose. He had also released three records with his side band Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders.

He was close to Grohl, who described him as his “best friend” and “brother from another mother” in his 2021 book The Storyteller.

Colombia’s attorney general’s office said in a statement (translated from Spanish) in March that “Taylor Hawkins’ body urine toxicology test initially found 10 types of substances, including: THC, tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids”, and that “the National Institute of Forensic Medicine is pursuing medical studies to fully clarify the cause of death”.