Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl was overwhelmed with emotion as he and his bandmates honored their late drummer Taylor Hawkins at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening (Sept. 3).
Grohl was distressed, yet sentimental as he performed the Foo Fighters’ original song “Times Like These” for the first time since Hawkins’ death earlier this year. Overcome with tears, the audience cheered Grohl on through his difficult moments during the performance.
“It’s times like these you learn to live again / It’s times like these you give and give again / It’s times like these you learn to love again / It’s times like these time and time again,” Grohl tearfully sang.
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Earlier in the evening, Grohl kicked off the show with an emotional speech dedicated to the late Foo Fighters’ drummer alongside his bandmates Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shifflet, and Rami Jaffee.
“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,” Grohl shared with the crowd. “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 who admired him from afar, I’m sure you’ve all felt the same thing.”
Grohl continued, “So tonight, we’ve gathered with family and his closest friends, his musical heroes and greatest inspirations to bring you a gigantic f-cking night for a gigantic f-cking person.”
“So sing and dance and laugh and cry and f-cking scream and make some f-cking noise so he can hear us right now. Cos you know what, it’s gonna be a long f-cking night, right?”
Ugh I could cry 🙏#taylorhawkinstribute #Wembley #taylorhawkinstribute #DaveGrohl #FooFighters ❤️ pic.twitter.com/6eytwOzfr8
— Janet (@JanetScalera) September 3, 2022
The tribute concert included appearances from Liam Gallagher, Mark Ronson, Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Supergrass, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, Blink-182’s Travis Barker, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, Kesha, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, and more. These musicians played a variety of Hawkins’ favorite and best known songs.
Hawkins, the international rock sensation, became a member of Foo Fighters in 1997. He landed nine of their records and was awarded 15 GRAMMY Awards, while being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 by Beatles’ member Paul McCartney.
Hawkins continued to tour with the Foo Fighters up until March 25 when he was found dead in his hotel room in the town of Chapinero in Bogotá, Colombia at the age of 50. Authorities stated he had ten substances in his system at the time of his death.
The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert was directed by Joel Gallen and produced by Emer Patten at EP-PIC Films & Creative. It became available to stream live on September 3 at 10:30am CT on Paramount+ (U.S. only), MTV YouTube channels (globally) and Pluto TV (internationally). The show can also be viewed on demand via Paramount+ (globally) beginning September 3 and on Pluto TV and MTV YouTube channels beginning the week of September 5.
CBS Television Network broadcasted highlights from the tribute concert on September 3, and MTV aired a one-hour special on its channels around the world that started in Latin America on September 3 and other international territories on September 4. An extended two-hour special will air globally on MTV Entertainment beginning in September.
All tickets and merchandise sales from the concerts will benefit charities chosen by the Hawkins family: Music Support and MusiCares.
Additionally, a second Hawkins’ tribute concert will take place on September 27 in Los Angeles at the Kia Forum.
