Taylor Hawkins, the drummer for the Foo Fighters, Died at the age of 50, a ‘Tragic and Untimely Loss,’ According to the Band

The drummer and longstanding member of the iconic rock band Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins, has died, the band announced on social media.

Taylor Hawkins, the rock band Foo Fighters’ veteran drummer, has died. At the time, he was 50 years old. Although the band stated in a statement Friday that Taylor’s death was a “tragic and untimely loss.” there were no immediate specifics on how he died. The Foo Fighters were in South America on tour. On Sunday, they performed at a festival in San Isidro, Argentina, and were set to perform at another in Bogotá in Colombia, on Friday night.

Statement released

“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever,” according to a message sent to reporters via the band’s official Twitter account. “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,” it further stated.

Taylor was undoubtedly the most visible member of the band after Foo Fighters founder and frontman Dave Grohl, appearing alongside Dave in interviews as well as playing important roles in the band’s videos.

He is also featured in Foo Fighters’ new horror comedy film, Studio 666, wherein a demonic force seizes Dave and turns him into a murderer in the mansion where the band is staying. Taylor as well as other band members, including Pat Smear, Rami Jaffee, Chris Shiflett, and Nate Mendel, are murdered off one by one in the movie. The movie permitted the band, who are one of rock music’s most enduring bands for decades, to have some fun while enacting a long-running joke.

Taylor has been the drummer for Foo Fighters for 25 of the band’s 28 years, having replaced original drummer William Goldsmith in 1997.

In 1972, Oliver Taylor Hawkins was born in Fort Worth Texas and raised in Laguna Beach, California. He was a member of the modest Southern California band Sylvia prior landing his first big gig as a drummer for Sass Jordan,Canadian vocalist. He subsequently spent the mid-1990s as Alanis Morissette’s touring drummer before being recruited to join the Foo Fighters by Dave Grohl. Alison Hawkins, Taylor’s wife, and their three kids survive him.