Foo Fighters Cancel Upcoming Tour Dates After Taylor Hawkins’ Death: ‘Take This Time To Grieve’
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Following the untimely and ‘staggering loss’ of drummer Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters announced they will cancel all their upcoming tour dates while they ‘grieve, heal’ and ‘appreciate the memories.’
Less than a week after Taylor Hawkins passed away unexpectedly while touring with Foo Fighters in Colombia, the band announced they were putting a hold on performing. “It is with great sadness that Foo Fighters confirm the cancellation of all upcoming tour dates in the light of the staggering loss of our brother Taylor Hawkins,” the band said in a statement posted on social media. “We’re sorry for and share the disappointment that we won’t be seeing one another as planned. Instead, let’s take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we’ve made together. With love, Foo Fighters.”
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) March 29, 2022
The statement comes ahead of the 64th Grammy Awards. The band – Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, Chris Shifflett, Nate Mendel, and Rami Jaffee – was announced as one of the performers at the Apr. 3 event. The group is also nominated for Best Rock Performance (“Making a Fire”), Best Rock Song (“Waiting on a War”), and Best Rock Album (Medicine at Midnight).
Taylor Hawkins died on Mar. 25. The band announced the “tragic and untimely loss” right before they were supposed to perform at the Festival Estéreo Picnic in Bogotá, Colombia. The band’s statement celebrated Taylor’s “musical spirit and infectious laughter” and that his impact “will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children, and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”
In the days following his death, Bogotá’s secretary of health issued a statement that said emergency responders received a report about a patient with chest pains at a hotel north of the city. An ambulance was sent to the scene, and a private health provider was already issuing treatment, but efforts to resuscitate Hawkins were successful, per CNN.
Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office released a preliminary “forensic medical study” on Saturday, per CNN. The AG’s office claimed that a urine toxicology test found ten substances inside Taylor, including THC, tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and opioids. However, this did not pinpoint the exact cause of death, and the investigation is still ongoing.
Taylor’s death sent shockwaves of grief throughout the music world. Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee claimed he spoke to Taylor “a few hours” before his death. “I wish this was some shitty dream or a bad prank that we would both laugh about,” the metal drummer wrote. Though Tommy commented that “typing words has never been so difficult,” he did write out how much he loved Taylor. The sentiment was shared by the likes of Ozzy Osborne, Travis Barker, and Miley Cyrus.