Culture
03 May 22

Liam Bradley on Taylor Hawkins: "He was very self-effacing, a kid on the block who couldn’t believe his luck"

On March 25, 2022, the terrible news went out across the wires, the cables and the routers that Taylor Hawkins had died in his room in the Four Seasons Hotel Casa Medina Bogota, in the caiptal city of Columbia, Bogotá where his band Foo Fighters were on tour. Here, some of Ireland’s greatest drummers pay tribute.

Liam Bradley
Australian musician and composer

"I was really shocked, I heard that Taylor Hawkins had passed. I was really drawn to him as a person. I was a big fan of Dave Grohl, and I always thought about how it was such a big deal for him to choose a drummer – for one of the best rock drummers in the world to choose a comrade in arms. Now, when I think of the Foo Fighters, I think of the two of them.

I watched a masterclass Taylor did on BBC a couple of years ago – he just really enchanted and engaged me. What he was on the surface was this common man: a blonde, American Adonis playing for one of the biggest bands in the world. But what really came across was his humanity, a common story not just for drummers, but for so many great musicians.

A kid at home who is suddenly drawn to a particular instrument, and how he just becomes completely fixated by the sound, the noise. How he saves up his pocket money to buy a drum, then forms a little band. That’s a story that’s common to all of us. He was very self-effacing, a kid on the block who couldn’t believe his luck.

I think what makes him a really great drummer is that he’s a singer too. Because of that he has this empathy with the lead singer. For any drummer, to have that is to have great musicality. He’s not just a drummer - he’s an accompanist. And that’s what really stands him apart from your average ‘Thump it out as hard as you can’ rock drummer. That’s what made Taylor Hawkins special."

READ: In Your Honour - A Special Tribute to Taylor Hawkins.

Read the full Hot Press tribute in our new issue, out now