Taylor Hawkins Reportedly Told Dave Grohl on Tour He ‘Couldn’t F*cking Do It Anymore’ Just Months Before Dying
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Foo Fighter’s drummer Taylor Hawkins reportedly expressed concern with the band’s tour schedule months before he died in March.
Several of Hawkins’ friends and colleagues were interviewed for a Rolling Stone article aimed at detailing his final days, in which Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron claimed he shared his discomfort with Dave Grohl before the tour.
“He had a heart-to-heart with Dave and, yeah, he told me that he ‘couldn’t fucking do it anymore’ — those were his words,” Cameron said. “So I guess they did come to some understanding, but it just seems like the touring schedule got even crazier after that.”
“He tried to keep up,” he added. “He just did whatever it took to keep up, and in the end he couldn’t keep up.”
Rolling Stone also claimed that Hawkins called an anonymous friend to vent when the Foo Fighters had added a one-off March date in Australia.
While Grohl declined to comment, a representative for the Foo Fighters denied the claim, saying that Hawkin never expressed concern about the tour schedule.
“The fact that he finally spoke to Dave and really told him that he couldn’t do this and that he wouldn’t do it anymore, that was freeing for him,” added another anonymous colleague and friend of Hawkins. “That took fucking balls. That did take a year of working up the guts to do.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith detailed an incident in which Hawkins lost consciousness on board a plane in Chicago, saying, “He was dehydrated and all kinds of stuff.” A rep has also denied this claim.
According to Smith, Hawkins told him that he “can’t do it like this anymore,” following the alleged incident.
“That was one of the straws that broke the camel’s back. After that, he had a real important heart-to-heart with Dave and the management,” Smith added. “He said, ‘I can’t continue on this schedule, and so we’ve got to figure out something.’”
On March 25, Hawkins died in Bogotá, Colombia at the age of 50, as the Foo Fighters were beginning their tour of South America.
The band called off their tour following Hawkins’ death, stating, “We’re sorry for and share in the disappointment that we won’t be seeing one another as planned. Instead, let’s take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we’ve made together. With Love, Foo Fighters.”
