Joan Jett has shared her memories of the late Taylor Hawkins in a new interview with NME.
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Foo Fighters drummer Hawkins passed away in March in Bogotá, Colombia, where the band had been touring. He was 50.
Speaking to NME, Jett remembered Hawkins as “a fuckin’ wonderful guy”, adding: “[He] would light up a room. Kick-ass drummer.”
Jett also recalled in the interview how she and her band, the Blackhearts, first met the Foos “around 2010″, where they “all really hit it off”.
In 2011, Foo Fighters invited the band to perform Jett’s 1980 hit ‘Bad Reputation’ on The Late Show With David Letterman.
“Just little things like that, they included me in,” she recalled to NME about the performance. “It was very, sort of, familial. We’re all sittin’ backstage, runnin’ through songs. I can see [Taylor] now on his drum pad, whacking away. He’s a wonderful guy.”
Jett added of Hawkins’ death: “It’s really a tragedy that so many people who love him, lose him.
“But, you know, it’s not just physical. He’s around. And that’s hard for people to hear because they want the physical.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers paid tribute to Hawkins during their headline set at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival last weekend. The band stepped in for Foo Fighters, who have cancelled all of their forthcoming tour dates.
“We just found out about this [headline slot] two weeks ago, because Foo Fighters were supposed to play here tonight,” RHCP drummer Chad Smith told the crowd. “We love Foo Fighters, and we love our brother Taylor Hawkins. This means a lot to us to be able to play for them.”
