After Taylor Hawkins’ Tragic Passing, Tom Morello, Travis Barker, Questlove And More Pay Tribute

The sudden death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has led to an outpouring of support for the musician’s family and the surviving band members. It has also led to a ton of stories, tributes and remembrances from other celebrities across the world of entertainment. Hawkins was someone who attracted friends and admirers wherever he went thanks to his fun and unique spirit, and their tearful remembrances are now everywhere on social media.

The first came from the Foo Fighters themselves. Taylor Hawkins joined the band in 1997 after meeting and befriending lead singer and legendary drummer in his own right Dave Grohl. The two became extremely close and together led one of the most successful bands in rock for twenty-five years. Here’s the official message the Foo Fighters posted below…

Hawkins was considered extremely influential and was well loved outside his own band. Musicians have across all genres immediately responded to the news with info on their personal connections and conversations with the drummer over the years. Among those was Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello. The popular guitarist, radio host and pop culture figure dropped a message, praising Hawkins’ “spirit” and included a picture of himself, Hawkins and Jane’s Addiction frontman and Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell. You can check it out below…

Fellow drummer Questlove also posted a tribute on Instagram. The producer, author and sometime Roots singer called Hawkins the “coolest dude ever” and wished comfort to his friends and loved ones. He also dropped a great photo of the drummer sitting behind his kit, which you can see next…

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker had a very personal connection to Hawkins. He started his career as the drummer for Alanis Morissette, and he would come watch Barker play in a punk rock band at dive bars in Orange County and tell him he was going to be a star one day. Barker credits those visits with giving him the strength and determination to keep going until he made it. Later, the Foo Fighters and Blink-182 went on tour together, and the two would smoke cigarettes together in plane bathrooms and watch each other’s sets every night. You can read his lovely tribute in full below…

In addition to all the posts on Instagram, there was also a lot of love sent Barker’s way on Twitter. A wide range of musicians reposted stories of Hawkins’ tragic passing with their own comments, and many posted their own stories of how they were personally connected or what he meant to them. One of those posts was from Guns N Roses lead singer Axl Rose, who called him a “great guy” and said he was looking forward to hanging out soon in Daytona. 

Popular producer and musician Mark Ronson also shared some kind words. He recently worked with the Foo Fighters on a reimagined version of the band’s single “Making A Fire.” In his post, he called Hawkins “one of the greatest rock drummers of all-time,” which is particularly high praise considering Ronson worked with an extremely high number of famous and influential musicians over the past few decades. He also offered quite a few unique adjectives to describe Hawkins.

A quick search on Twitter will bring up dozens more tributes from the biggest names music has to offer, as well as quite a few from other branches of entertainment. Kiss Frontman Gene Simmons had his own post, along with Nickelback who shared some kind words. Ozzy Osbourne posted a remembrance, as did John Stamos and so many more. 

Our thoughts go out to the entire Hawkins family, along with the Foo Fighters and everyone else who loved the brilliant drummer. He will be missed by so many, and his drumming will continue to influence new generations of musicians for a long time to come.