SiriusXM Remembers Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins

Taylor Hawkins, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drummer for Foo Fighters, has died at the age of 50, according to a statement from the band.

“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of Taylor Hawkins,” it read. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”

SiriusXM is paying tribute across channels, including Octane, Alt Nation, Lithium, The Spectrum, and more.

Tribute Show on Lithium

Celebrate Hawkins’ music legacy and career as fans come together for a live call-in hosted by Kat Corbett and Mark Hamilton on Lithium. The “Taylor Hawkins Tribute Show” starts March 28 at 6pm ET. Call in and share your fondest memories of Hawkins at 866-754-0004.

Catch the special again on March 29 at 9am ET and March 30 at 12am ET, or anytime on the SiriusXM app by searching “Taylor Hawkins” after its debut.

Hawkins & SiriusXM

In the days since Hawkins’ death, tributes have been flooding social media, with fans — including festivalgoers at his final show on March 20 at Lollapalooza Argentina and 9-year-old fan Emma Sofia, who performed an impromptu drum session outside Hawkins’ hotel in Paraguay — family members and frequent collaborators alike reflecting on the impact Hawkins had on their lives and love of music.

Last month, the band joined forces with SiriusXM again to relaunch their channel, Foo Fighters Radio, in celebration of the release of their horror-comedy film, “Studio 666.” The channel featured insight into all of Foo Fighters’ albums, the stories behind some of their biggest songs, a behind-the-scenes interview about the making of their movie, special commentary from Hawkins and the other band members, and much more. Prior to that, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Paul McCartney during the 2021 ceremony and also served as the first to play Madison Square Garden again after Covid shutdowns put live music on hold.

Hawkins also spent some quality time with Alt Nation at BottleRock Napa Valley in 2019 ahead of a performance with his band, Chevy Metal, which he described as his “drum gym” to keep his drumming chops in line and an opportunity to “make love to the music I grew up with.” He also shared sage advice for up-and-coming rockers in terms of both what to do and what not to do.

“Kids will come up to me and say, ‘We want to be rock stars, what should we do?’ And they’re 12, 13 or something,” Hawkins recalled. “You should write songs, definitely, but you should also start a cover band, because if you know a bunch of covers, people will actually want you to play at their keg parties … You get inside these great songs like ‘My Sharona’ or ‘Panama’ by Van Halen or ‘Turning Japanese,’ and you learn how to write songs.”

In terms of off-limits covers, however? Led Zeppelin.