In a poignant six-page letter commemorating the Foo Fighters’ 30th anniversary, frontman Dave Grohl paid heartfelt tribute to his late bandmate, drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Grohl, 56, wrote:
“And… Taylor. Your name is spoken every day, sometimes with tears, sometimes with a smile, but you are still in everything we do, everywhere we go, forever.”
He continued:
“The enormity of your beautiful soul is only rivaled by the infinite longing we feel in your absence. We all miss you beyond words. Foo Fighters will forever include Taylor Hawkins in every note that we play, until we do finally reach our destination.”
The tribute stands as a powerful testament to Hawkins’ enduring presence within the band, three years after his passing in 2022.
It has now been three years since Taylor Hawkins—the 50-year-old Grammy-winning drummer—was tragically found deceased at the Four Seasons Hotel Casa Medina in Bogotá, Colombia. A postmortem toxicology report revealed the presence of ten substances in his system, including heroin, opioids, and benzodiazepines. Reports at the time also noted he had an enlarged heart.
Taylor is survived by his wife of 17 years, Alison Hawkins, and their three children, including 18-year-old Shane Hawkins, who has honored his father’s legacy by stepping into his footsteps as a drummer.
In his recent anniversary letter, Dave Grohl also acknowledged Josh Freese, the acclaimed drummer who had been performing with the Foo Fighters since Taylor’s passing. Despite Freese’s contributions over the past three years, Grohl reportedly made the decision to part ways with him on May 12.
In his reflective 30th-anniversary letter, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl expressed gratitude to the band’s former and current drummers, acknowledging their distinctive contributions to the group’s legacy:
“It should go without saying that without the boundless energy of William Goldsmith, the seasoned wisdom of Franz Stahl, and the thunderous wizardry of Josh Freese, this story would be incomplete,” Grohl wrote.
“So we extend our heartfelt gratitude for the time, music, and memories that we shared with each of them over the years. Thank you, gentlemen.”
The Foo Fighters—recipients of 15 Grammy Awards and boasting 19.9 million monthly listeners on Spotify—are next slated to perform on October 2 at the Carnaval Ancol music festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.
As part of their anniversary celebration, the band released Today’s Song, their first single in three years. The track’s lyrics—
“It may take a lifetime to find you / It may take a lifetime to unwind you / Praying there’s some way to remind you”—
evoke themes of loss, remembrance, and resilience.
Grohl enlisted his 16-year-old daughter, Harper, to illustrate the single’s cover art, which features a striking image of a white raven.
On a personal note, Dave and his wife Jordyn Blum Grohl will mark two significant family milestones this summer: their daughter Ophelia’s 11th birthday on August 1, followed by their 22nd wedding anniversary on August 2.
August 1 also marks the first birthday of Grohl’s youngest daughter, born from his relationship with former on-set assistant Jennifer Young—a relationship he publicly acknowledged in a September 10 Instagram post, revealing both the affair and the child.
Reports also allege that Grohl was romantically involved with God’s Girls founder Annaliese Neilsen between 2016 and 2019.#newsafro_
