Foo Fighters ‘Devastated’ By Death Of Drummer Taylor Hawkins. He Was 50

Read Time:1 Minute, 33 Second

Taylor Hawkins, the drummer for the Foo Fighters who had the unenviable task of keeping the beat for Dave Grohl, has died in what his bandmates are calling “a tragic and untimely loss.”

Hawkins was only 50 years old.

Grohl, who was the drummer for Nirvana where that band’s frontman Kurt Cobain committed suicide at the age of 27 in 1994, was often interviewed with Hawkins as the two formed a formidable duo onstage and off.

“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,” the band wrote in a statement they tweeted late Friday night.

“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever,” the band added. That tweet had more than 100,000 likes in the first hour.

The band was just beginning a tour that is set to bring them to Boston in late May for the Boston Calling festival, according to posted tour dates. That itinerary places the band next in São Paulo, Brazil, for a Lollapalooza 2022 concert Sunday.

They performed Friday, according to the schedule, in Bogota, Colombia, where fellow headliner Miley Cyrus posted clips to Twitter — but she did not mention Hawkins or the Foo Fighters just after midnight Saturday. Some reports state Hawkins was still in Bogota when he died.

There was no announcement about the band’s tour going forward.

The band also just released a horror flick “Studio 666″ as part of a new album release, “Medicine at Midnight.” It is the band’s 10th album.

Hawkins was a drummer for Alanis Morissette before joining the Foo Fighters. The band has been a regular in Boston, playing before the pandemic at Fenway Park in sold out shows.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison and their three children.