Hard rock, hangovers and Billy Joel: When I met Taylor Hawkins

When I met Taylor Hawkins in 2017 he was very hungover. He was sitting beside Dave Grohl who was also very hungover but much better at hiding it. I was supposed to be hungover too but my flight to Sydney the previous day had been cancelled causing me to miss that night's official launch party for the Foo Fighters new album Concrete and Gold.

By all accounts, it was a wild affair with Grohl and Hawkins celebrating the record's release by rocking out with the crowd, standing on the bar pouring tequila shots straight from the bottle into people's open mouths and partying until 3am.

The next morning the pair got up bright and early. I believe their first interview was with an Australian breakfast radio show, before settling into a hotel room to spend the day doing interviews. When I walked in for my interview just before 5pm they were clearly fading.

"So you're not hungover?" Dave Grohl asked as I sat down. "Lucky you..."

Hawkins didn't say much during our interview, his energy almost entirely devoted to not slipping off his chair in a deep slumber. But when he did talk it was thoughtful and delivered with a big smile. My impression after meeting him is probably much like yours; he was a cool dude.

Dave Grohl, left, and Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters performing.

An hour or so after the interview I got word of a secret gig. Hawkins' heavy rock covers band Chevy Metal was going to play a gig at a teeny venue called the Oxford Art Factory. Grohl doesn't usually play with the band but that night he'd be joining them. Tickets were extremely limited and almost impossible to get, but I'd managed to snag one.

Walking in I wasn't expecting much. I knew it'd be good, obviously, but I was not expecting it to be blow-your-head-off good, solely because only a few short hours ago I'd seen the sorry state of the pair.

Boy, was I proven wrong. They came on stage and rocked the bejesus out of the place. There were maybe 300 people in the crowd but they unleashed the full sonic onslaught of a Foo Fighters stadium gig. It was phenomenal and easily one of the best shows I've ever seen.

Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters performing.

They thundered through a setlist that included The Knack's My Sharona, The Vapors Turning Japanese, Queen's Under Pressure, AC/DC's Let There Be Rock and Bowie's Ziggy Stardust amongst many, many others.

They also appreciated the hard-rockin' bonafides of Billy Joel by performing a monstrous cover of his early hit You May Be Right. Respect.

When I'd left him after the interview Hawkins looked like he was ready for bed. Now, he was behind the kit and rocking out like a man possessed. As he hammered away at his kit he was a tsunami of arms and flying golden hair all anchored by his unshakeable grin. His beastly playing so technically precise yet naturally loose and completely in the groove.

"This is Taylor Hawkin's band," Grohl said to the crowd early on. "Not when you're in town...," Hawkins quipped back from behind his kit.

Musicians Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl.

He wasn't wrong but he also wasn't right. Grohl was at pains to make clear this was Hawkins' show and he was just the guest star for the night. While the Foo Fighters is undeniably the Dave Grohl show there's no denying that it wouldn't be the Foo's without Hawkins. His energy, musicianship and power are all essential components of the band, but more so is the fact that he was the embodiment of Rock.

That he and the equally hard-rocking Grohl instantly hit it off when they met decades ago is unsurprising. In his recent memoir, The Storyteller, Grohl described Hawkins as his, "brother from another mother, my best friend, a man for whom I would take a bullet."

Hawkins' sudden death on the weekend was an utter shock to music fans around the world and the grief must be unbearable for his wife, his three children and his best friend.

Taylor Hawkins performing with his covers band Chevy Metal at Redondo Beach.

"After Nirvana was over I didn't want to play music. I couldn't even listen to the radio because it just broke my heart that the band ended the way that it did. I would hear songs and it would just make me sad. I couldn't listen to a Nirvana song. Couldn't imagine joining another band," Grohl told me during that interview. "But then I realized that music was what was gonna heal me."

So let's all heed Grohl's words and let the music start to heal. Crank up the volume, spin some Foo Fighters and rock out for Taylor Hawkins, a true drum hero and the beating heart that powered one of the last great rock bands.

Rock in Peace, Taylor Hawkins.