Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins Dies In South America, Police Hint At Potential Cause

Taylor Hawkins, the drummer for Foo Fighters, died at 50-years-old on Friday while on tour with the band in South America.

“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band said in a statement. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter 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.”

The Associated Press reported:

The Bogota municipal government issued a statement Saturday that the city’s emergency center had received a report of a patient with “chest pain” and sent an ambulance. A private ambulance arrived as well, it said.

Health workers tried to revive him, but were unable to do so. It said the cause of death was under investigation. Police vehicles, an ambulance and fans were gathered outside the hotel in northern Bogota where Hawkins was believed to have been staying.

The Metropolitan Police of Bogota said in a statement that “according to those close to him, the death could be related to the consumption of drugs.”

Fox News reported:

Hawkins was Alanis Morrissette’s touring drummer when he joined Foo Fighters in 1997. He played on the band’s biggest albums including “One by One” and “On Your Honor,” and on hit singles including “My Hero” and “Best of You.”

Born Oliver Taylor Hawkins in Fort Worth Texas in 1972, Hawkins was raised in Laguna Beach, California. He played in the small Southern California band Sylvia before landing his first major gig as a drummer for Canadian singer Sass Jordan. When he spent two years in the mid-1990s drumming for Morrissette, he was inspired primarily by the playing of Jane’s Addiction’s Stephen Perkins.

“In utter disbelief at the news of Taylor Hawkins,” rockers Nickelback said in a statement on Twitter. “Our deepest condolences to his family, his bandmates, his team, his friends and everyone that was ever touched by the music he created with @foofighters @Alanis and so many others.”

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Taylor Hawkins,” said Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. “He was a beloved member of the entire music community. We send our love and best wishes to Taylor’s family and everyone who’s grieving him.”

“We’re devastated. Our thoughts are with Taylor’s family, friends and band mates,” Jimmy Eat World wrote on Twitter. “He was the heartbeat of one of our most favorite bands. It’s hard to imagine someone with his power and energy could be gone so soon. He’ll be sorely missed but never forgotten.”

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