Taylor Hawkins: Rolling Stone claims Foo Fighters drummer struggled with touring before death

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was reportedly struggling with the demands of touring before his shock death at the age of 50.

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was struggling with the extreme physical demands of a punishing tour schedule before his shock death at the age of 50, multiple friends have told Rolling Stone in a new investigative piece.

Hawkins was concerned about playing three-hour shows night after night, according to friends interviewed, including Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

His family members and Foo Fighters bandmates declined to be interviewed for Rolling Stone, but the band’s management said: “They dispute Hawkins’ friends’ characterisations of how he was feeling”.

Taylor Hawkins tragically died in his Bogota hotel room while on tour. Picture: AFP

But according to the Rolling Stone report, the much-loved drummer was struggling with the rigours of constant touring.

Just weeks before his death, he allegedly broke down when he learned that the Foo Fighters had added a one-off date in Australia, when the band played Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium on March 4.

An anonymous friend told Rolling Stone that Hawkins was so upset about the Geelong concert — which would turn out being one of his last performances — the drummer called them “to vent” about it.

Hawkins on stage with Dave Grohl in Geelong. Picture: Brett Schewitz / Frontier Touring

The charismatic drummer, who was also a talented singer, reportedly told the friend he was given assurances the band would have a lighter schedule going forward.

“And he had every reason to believe that would happen,” they said. “He wanted to believe it”.

A representative for the Foo Fighters told Rolling Stone that Hawkins never indicated he was upset about the Australian date and vehemently denied that the drummer expressed any misgivings about the tour schedule, saying there was “definitely no limit” on the number of concerts Hawkins agreed to play.

As well as being an incredible musician, the much-loved Hawkins was a talented singer. Pictured: AFP

Hawkins was found dead in his hotel room on March 25 at the Four Seasons hotel in Bogota, Colombia ahead of a scheduled performance at the Estereo Picnic Festival.

Results of the father of two’s autopsy have not been made public, but a urine-analysis report found marijuana, antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids in his system, Rolling Stone reported.

Doctors said Hawkins’ heart weighed double the size of a normal one, weighed at 600g, and it could have collapsed from the enlargement alone.

The Foo Fighters also denied reports that Hawkins was the band member who passed out on the group’s private jet last December.

Taylor Hawkins with his family the month before his death. Picture: AFP

Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith told Rolling Stone that the incident indeed happened.

“He just said he was exhausted and collapsed, and they had to pump him full of IVs and stuff,” Smith said.

“He was dehydrated and all kinds of stuff.”

Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron said Hawkins had “a heart-to-heart with Dave (Grohl).

“(Taylor) told me that he ‘couldn’t f---ing 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,” Cameron said. “He just did whatever it took to keep up, and in the end he couldn’t keep up.”

Hawkins with best mate and bandmate Dave Grohl. Picture: Getty Images

A Foo Fighters representative denied that Hawkins raised these concerns, telling Rolling Stone: “No, there was never a ‘heart-to-heart’ — or any sort of meeting on this topic — with Dave and (Silva Artist Management).”

Cameron also told Rolling Stone that Hawkins agreed to continue touring with the band to “be a team player”.

“(A band like that) is a big machine (with) a lot of people on the payroll,” Cameron said. “So you’ve got to really be cognisant of the business side of something when it’s that big and that has inherent pressure, just like any business.”

The band’s rep again denied that Hawkins ever mentioned wanting to scale back.

Cameron has since distanced himself from the Rolling Stone article, issuing a statement on Instagram saying his quotes were taken out of context and “shaped into a narrative I had never intended”.

The Foo Fighters cancelled all tour dates after Hawkins’ death, saying the band would “take this time to heal”.