Foo Fighters cancel Australian tour dates after drummer Taylor Hawkins’ death
Aussie fans reeling from the death of Taylor Hawkins have suffered another blow as the band releases an emotional statement.
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Frontier Touring have confirmed the Australian leg of the Foo Fighters’ world tour has been cancelled.
The heartbroken band have cancelled all upcoming global tour dates following the shock death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins.
A statement from the group reads: “It is with great sadness that Foo Fighters confirm the cancellation of all upcoming tour dates in light of the staggering loss of our brother Taylor Hawkins.
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.”
Frontier Touring have alerted fans all tickets to the band’s Australian shows in November and December will be refunded via the respective booking agencies.
The band were due to perform in North America and Europe for most of 2022. They were also scheduled to perform at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Fifty-year-old Hawkins was found dead in a Colombia hotel room last Saturday.
He was about to perform at a festival in the city on the same day when he reportedly complained of chest pains and died shortly later.
No cause has been confirmed but local medical authorities said he had multiple drugs in his system and a heart double the weight of a normal size for his age.
HAWKINS’ CHILLING LAST WORDS
Taylor Hawkins vowed to “take care” of himself in a chilling voice message that emerged after he died with 10 different drugs in his system.
But the night before, he left a prophetic voicemail to the creator of Lollapalooza, Perry Farrell, and his wife Etty Farrell.
“Take care of each other. And I’ll take care of me. And I will see you guys in Sao Paulo. I love, love, love you guys. Sleep tight.”
Hawkins was due to play at the Lollapalooza festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil, just days later.
Farrell played Hawkins’ last words in a tribute video posted to Instagram.
Etty Farrell said that the message was sent on Thursday night from the hotel where Hawkins was found dead the next morning.
“Little did he know, through this one fatal night, he would cement himself in the legends of music for all time,” Farrell said.
“And that’s what I think he deserves.”
Hawkins body has been released by Colombian authorities to be flown home to the US.
His family is making funeral plans following the completion of an autopsy on the weekend.
Investigators said Hawkins had “10 drugs in his system”, including THC and opioids.
An autopsy was said to have found his heart weight “at least 600 grams”, or about twice the size of a normal heart for a man of his age.
STAR’S HEARTBREAKING MOMENT WITH FAN
Just days before his tragic death, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins shared an adorable moment with a young fan who was performing his songs on the street.
Emma Sofía and her father Julius Peralta had tickets to see the band at the Asuncionico music festival on March 22, but the event was cancelled amid heavy flooding, according to Nexstar.
The fans then got word that the Foo Fighters were staying at the Sheraton hotel in Asuncion.
“We took her drum kit and went,” Peralta reportedly said.
Viral singalongs of the band’s song The Pretender and Nirvana’s In Bloom ensued, as Sofía pounded the skins while throngs of fans accompanied her on vocals, the New York Post reported.
Hearing about the young fan, the kind-hearted Hawkins left his Paraguay hotel room to look for the talented percussionist, the New York Post reports.
As the smiling late drummer posed for with the little girl, dozens of fans were in the background cheering for the beaming duo.
“Dreams come true,” Peralta captioned the photo in English on Twitter.
DEVASTATED GROHL RETURNS TO LA
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and his bandmates have made an emotional return to the US following the shocking death of drummer Taylor Hawkins while on tour in Colombia on Friday.
Frontman Grohl appeared visibly emotional on Sunday local time after landing in Los Angeles where he embraced a man believed to be the band’s manager, John Silva, reports the New York Post.
Grohl was pictured at LAX with bandmates, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel and Rami Jaffee, as well as jazz singer Samantha Sidley, who was touring with the band.
In his recent memoir, The Storyteller, Grohl referred to Hawkins as his “best friend and partner in crime”, someone who brightened up rooms with a bubbly presence and a constant “toothy grin”.
The 50-year-old drummer was found dead on Friday in a hotel room at the Four Seasons Casa Medina in Bogota.
There has been no official cause released of his death, although the band said in a statement Friday that his death was a “tragic and untimely loss”.
Prosecutors in Colombia released a statement over the weekend saying toxicological tests on urine from Hawkins’ body preliminarily found 10 psychoactive substances and medicines, including marijuana, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants and benzodiazepines.
It was also reported that the drummer’s heart weighed “at least 600 grams”, double the average of 300 to 350 grams. Hawkins reportedly suffered a “cardiovascular collapse” after bingeing on a cocktail of drugs including heroin, marijuana, and opioids.
FOOTAGE OF HAWKINS’ FINAL GIG EMERGES
As shockwaves continue from Hawkins’ tragic death, video has emerged of his last concert with the band just six days before he died.
In the footage, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl calls Hawkins to the stage from behind his drums, to show off a pair of bright orange striped tights and to invite him to sing.
The banter between the two drew roars from the thousands who were at the concert on day three of the Lollapalooza festival in Argentina.
“There’s one more person we can’t forget ladies and gentlemen,” Grohl said to the crowd.
“Taylor, do you love it?” Grohl asked him, with Hawkins responding, “I f***ing love playing big f---ing huge stadiums”.
When Hawkins walked to the front of the stage he and Grohl embraced, before Hawkins yelled:
“I f---ing love Dave Grohl man. I’d be delivering f---ing pizzas if it wasn’t for Dave Grohl. I’d be managing the drum department at a guitar centre if it wasn’t for Dave Grohl.”
Foo Fighters have released a social media statement paying tribute to Hawkins.
“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the Twitter statement said.
“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.”
‘10 DRUGS IN SYSTEM’: SHOCK DETAILS OF DEATH
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had “10 different types of drugs in his system” when he collapsed and died in his hotel room at the age of 50, according to Colombian officials.
Colombia’s Prosecutor’s Office released a statement saying toxicological tests on urine from Hawkins’ body preliminarily found 10 psychoactive substances and medicines, including marijuana, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants and benzodiazepines. It did not provide a cause of death and investigations are continuing.
In a disturbing development, Colombian journalist Luis Carlos Velez claimed police who entered Hawkins’ room at the luxury Casa Medina Hotel told prosecutors that they saw a “cocaine-like powder” and hallucinogens in the room along with several opened alcoholic beverages.
Colombian publication Semana reported that the size of Hawkins’ heart – at more than 600 grams, about twice the weight of a typical adult male’s heart – played a part in his death.
The statement about the toxicological tests came after health chiefs issued a statement appearing to signal that Hawkins may have suffered a heart attack. The Secretariat of Health said the musician had sparked a medical emergency after suffering “chest pains” at the luxury Casa Medina hotel after suffering “chest pains”.
Hawkins, a father of three, was on a tour of South America with the Foo Fighters and the band was due to appear at the Grammys in April.
No drugs were mentioned in the statement about the medical emergency from health chiefs, despite the fact police had alluded to Hawkins’ death possibly being drug-related earlier.
The statement read: “The city’s Emergency Regulation Centre received an alert about a patient with chest pain in a hotel located in the north of the city”.
The statement said that an ambulance had been sent and that a health professional attempted revival techniques but the patient was pronounced dead.
“The District Secretariat of Health regrets the death of this talented and world-famous drummer and sends a message of condolences to his family, bandmates and fans.”
Earlier, the Metropolitan Police of Bogota speculated that drugs may have been involved.
“The cause of death has yet to be established,” the statement, carried in a number of Colombian newspapers, read.
“According to those close to him, the death could be related to the consumption of drugs.”
Members of a Technical Investigation Team removed the drummer’s body from his room while heartbroken Foo Fighters fans started a candlelight vigil outside the hotel.
Hawkins, who had three teenage children with wife Alison, spoke openly about his history with drugs and revealed he almost died in 2001 from a heroin overdose in London and spent two weeks in a coma.
He said years later that he wasn’t an addict but had been partying too much.
The American band, fronted by Dave Grohl, confirmed the tragic news on their social media channels.
Hawkins had been in Australia recently, where he performed with the band in Geelong in front of 30,000 people earlier this month. The band helped launch a new music initiative called Always Live, a Victorian government-backed program created by the late music industry boss Michael Gudinski.
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