Dave Grohl Gets Emotional While Kicking Off Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert

2022-09-03

Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters performing with his baby blue, Gibson ES-335.

Story by Anne Erickson, photo by Ken Settle

“No one else could make you smile or laugh or dance or sing like he could,” Dave Grohl says of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins

The life and legacy of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins is being celebrated Saturday (Sept. 3) with the first of two tribute concerts set for this month at Wembley Stadium in London and L.A.’s Kia Forum. The Foo Fighters performed at Wembley Stadium around 11:30 a.m. ET, and frontman Dave Grohl got emotional as he gave a passionate speech to kick off the tribute. During Grohl’s speech, the audience chanted “Taylor” in the background, which got Grohl even more emotional.

“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we’ve gathered here to celebrate the life, the music and the love of our dear friend, our bandmate, our brother Taylor Hawkins. For those of you who knew him personally, you know that no one else could make you smile or laugh or dance or sing like he could. And for those of you that admired him from afar, I’m sure you’ve all felt the same thing,” Grohl said.

He continued, “So tonight we’ve gathered with family and his closest friends, his musical heroes and greatest inspirations to bring you a gigantic fucking night for a gigantic fucking person. So sing and dance and laugh and cry and fucking scream and make some fucking noise so he can hear us right now. Cuz you know what, it’s going to be a long fucking night, right? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you fucking ready?”

Following the Foo Fighters’ performance, the next set came from Oasis’ Liam Gallagher, who joined the Foo Fighters on stage to perform “Rock N Roll Star” and “Live Forever.” As the sets are played out, people are focused on who is drumming in Hawkins’ place. Grohl took the seat for several songs, as well as David Bowie’s drummer Omar Hakim, Josh Freese and more. The concert will also feature guest appearances from Lars Ulrich, Brian Johnson, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Brian May, Chris Chaney, Stewart Copeland, Chrissie Hynde, Mark Ronson, Roger Taylor, Rufus Taylor, Wolfgang Van Halen, Krist Novoselic, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, P!nk, Nandi Bushell, Greg Kurstin, LeAnn Rimes, Travis Barker, Violet Grohl, Luke Spiller of The Struts and more.

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based music reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.