The news of Taylor Hawkins‘ passing this weekend was truly a surprise, shock, and major bummer.
The worst part may be that (at the time of this writing) we’re still no closer to knowing what exactly happened in his final hours. All we know is that the Foo Fighters drummer passed away late Friday night in Colombia while touring.
We’ve heard some amazing stories about what a great guy Taylor was over the weekend, and I have to admit that I knew him to be one as well. This is my story.
Back in 2017 and 2018, I was still on the air and was given the chance to cover Taylor’s visit to Rochester, Minnesota for the Turnaround Arts program. As part of the program, he was a mentor for one of our local elementary schools.
He truly had the best time with the kids both times I saw him visit. He brought his wife along the second time, and she seemed to enjoy the environment just as much as Taylor did. A lot of his time was spent with the kids drumming and chatting. I caught video of it in the two moments you’ll see below.
Did you SEE the sunglasses moment!??? How cool was that!
Then, he went to some other classrooms and continued to drum.
We truly had the best time, and Taylor seemed to love every minute of it.
I was so appreciative that he took a selfie with me while being there too. He didn’t have to take a second and talk with me, but he did. I told him that I was excited to see the Foo Fighters in Minneapolis later that year, thanked him for coming to our city, and then asked for a selfie. He smiled and said, “lay it on me!”
The stories you’ve heard about Taylor Hawkins are likely true. In my experience, he really was a joy and solid dude. He’ll be so missed.