Everyone from former bandmates to pop stars to big-time drummers paid tribute to the late Taylor Hawkins at his Los Angeles tribute concert on September 27. In full, the show took six hours and featured over 50 musicians, per the Los Angeles Times, following an equally starry outing in London on September 3. And nearly everything seemed to be a highlight. (Depending, of course, on how you feel about Dave Chappelle singing “Creep.”) Bands including Def Leppard, Queen, the James Gang, Rush, Soundgarden, Mötley Crüe, and Them Crooked Vultures came through to honor Hawkins, as did his own former bands Chevy Metal, the Coattail Riders, and of course, the Foo Fighters.
https://youtu.be/ajoI0nE8VMY
But the guest drummers alone would’ve been a draw, with the list including Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Travis Barker of blink-182, Stewart Copeland of the Police, Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Theodore of Queens of the Stone Age, Rufus Taylor of Darkness, Patrick Wilson of Weezer, session players Josh Freese and Omar Hakim, and Hawkins’s own son, Shane.
On top of it all, the night’s singers included the Pretty Reckless’s Taylor Momsen, Kesha, P!nk, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Joan Jett, Miley Cyrus, and Alanis Morissette — whom Hawkins drummed for before he joined the Foos.
“It’s like 31 flavors up here — another drummer, another sweet friend,” Dave Grohl said late in the night, as the Foo Fighters performed with a series of guest drummers. As he told the crowd after closing the show with “Everlong,” the concert went to show how “this many people connected through one person.”
