In June, Foo Fighters and the family of Taylor Hawkins announced a tribute concert to honor the unexpected March passing of the Foo drummer.
The statement read in part: “Taylor’s endearing spirit and deep love of music will live on forever through the collaborations he so enjoyed having with other musicians and the catalog of songs he contributed to and created. In celebration of his life, it is now up to all of us who loved him most to honor Taylor’s legacy and the music he gave us.”
FOO FIGHTERS TAYLOR HAWKINS | PHOTO by Green-Eyed Blonde Photography
The announcement continued: “Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee will come together with the Hawkins family to celebrate the life, music and love of their husband, father, brother and bandmate with The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts.”
At that time, two tribute concerts were announced: September 3rd at Wembley Stadium in England, and September 27th at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles. The concerts were expected to bring together artists Hawkins idolized and those artists and his bandmates will play songs Hawkins “fell in love with, and the ones he brought to life.”
The Los Angeles performers include Sebastian Bach, Travis Barker, Geezer Butler, Phil Collen, Joe Elliott, Josh Freese, Violet Grohl, Shane Hawkins, James Gang, Mark King and Lars Ulrich have been added to a lineup that includes Chris Chaney, Stewart Copeland, Miley Cyrus, Omar Hakim, Joshua Homme, Joan Jett, Alain Johannes, John Paul Jones, Greg Kurstin, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Brian May, Alanis Morissette, Krist Novoselic, P!NK, LeAnn Rimes, Mark Ronson, Gene Simmons, Nikki Sixx, Chad Smith, Luke Spiller, Roger Taylor, Rufus Taylor, Jon Theodore, Wolfgang Van Halen, Brad Wilk, Nancy Wilson, Patrick Wilson, and a special appearance by Chevy Metal.
The London performers include Travis Barker, Martin Chambers, Josh Freese, Violet Grohl, Justin Hawkins, Shane Hawkins, James Gang, Brian Johnson, Kesha, Luke Spiller and Lars Ulrich will join a lineup featuring Nandi Bushell, Chris Chaney, Stewart Copeland, Liam Gallagher, Omar Hakim, Joshua Homme, Chrissie Hynde, Alain Johannes, John Paul Jones, Greg Kurstin, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Brian May, Krist Novoselic, Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson, Supergrass, Roger Taylor, Rufus Taylor, Wolfgang Van Halen, Chevy Metal and a special appearances by Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock.
Unfortunately the on-sale of the shows was a chaotic mess courtesy of Ticketmaster, plus the high demand could not possibly keep up with the seating limitations. Most of us are going to need to watch the show from home, which thankfully, we can.
To watch the London performance live on Saturday, September 3rd; it begins at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT and can be viewed on Paramount+ (US only), MTV YouTube Channels (globally), and Pluto TV (internationally). You can also watch the show on demand on those same platforms.
The concerts ticket and merchandise sales will benefit charities chosen by the Hawkins family: Music Support and MusiCares.
While our sorrow at losing Hawkins cannot be cured, coming together in music does provide comfort. It will be emotional. It will rock. It will be an event we should all experience.
