Taylor Hawkins was showed with love and praise at what tragically became his final concert.
On March 20, five days before the Foo Fighters' drummer died at age 50, the band played at the Lollapalooza Festival in Argentina. Onstage at Buenos Aires' Hipódromo de San Isidro. The group performed several of their hits, including "The Pretender" and "Learn to Fly." Frontman Dave Grohl then paid tribute to Hawkins before switching places and playing the drums in his place as his bandmate took center stage to channel the late Freddie Mercury with a singing performance.
"There's one more person you can't forget. Ladies and gentlemen," Grohl began, before the camera panned to Hawkins, as the crowd chanted the soccer anthem "Olé, Olé, Olé."
Grohl continued, "You know, the best thing about Taylor Hawkins, he's the best f--king drummer in the world. We love him so much. But here's the thing. You haven't seen his pants yet. You wanna see Taylor Hawkins' pants?!"
As the crowd cheered, Hawkins then stood up, revealing his striped leggings. Grohl then invited him to sing, saying, "because that motherf--ker can sing, and those pants make him sound better."
Hawkins turned the attention back to the frontman, saying, "I f--king love Dave Grohl, man. I'd be delivering pizzas if it wasn't for Dave Grohl. I'd be managing the drum department at a Guitar Center if it wasn't for Dave Grohl. You guys wanna hear Dave Grohl play the f--king drums?"
Grohl, formerly Nirvana's drummer, then started drumming as Hawkins got the crowd going, Mercury-style, and launched into Queen's "Somebody to Love." He has regularly sung the song at the band's concerts during the group's current 2021-22 tour, their 10th overall.
In 2014, Hawkins said during a Foo Fighters interview with CNN, "I wanted to be Roger Taylor and I wanted to be in Queen. I wanted to play stadiums when I was 10 years old."
Hawkins died in a hotel room in Bogota, Colombia on Friday, March 25, hours before the Foo Fighters were set to perform another show.
The Queen drummer wrote on Instagram that Hawkins' death was "like losing a younger favourite brother. He was a kind brilliant man and an inspirational mentor to my son Rufus and the best friend one could ever have. Devastated. Rog"
Queen guitarist Brian May posted, "No. It cannot be. Heartbroken. Taylor, you were family to us. Our friend, our brother, our beloved child. Bless you. We will miss you so bad. Bri"