The rock n’ roll elite gathered on Saturday with a sold-out crowd of 75,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium for the first Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert. The star-studded event stretched nearly six hours and amounted to the grandest Viking funeral in rock history, as the late drummer’s Foo Fighters bandmates sent him off to rock Vahala with help from his friends, family, inspirations, and admirers.
The 50-song setlist was a meticulously orchestrated pageant that saw breakout stars, band reunions, a surprise appearance from Paul McCartney, and tributes to more icons than just Hawkins. Dave Grohl served as the master of ceremonies, addressing the crowd—often through tears—and performing on the vast majority of the evening’s songs as well as leading Foo Fighters through a headlining performance.
“Tonight, we’ve gathered here to celebrate the life, the music, and the love of our dear friend, our bandmate, our brother, Taylor Hawkins,” Grohl said on behalf of the band to start the show. “For those of you who knew him personally, you know no one else could make you smile, or laugh, or dance, or sing like he could. And for those of you who admired him from afar, I’m sure you all felt the same thing. So, tonight, we’ve gathered with family and his closest friends, his musical heroes and greatest inspirations, to bring you a gigantic fucking night for a gigantic fucking person. So, sing and dance and laugh and cry and fucking scream and make some fucking noise so he can hear us right now. Cause you know what, it’s going to be a long fucking night!”
Dave Grohl’s Emotional Introduction Speech For Taylor Hawkins – 9/3/22
[Video: Grunge & Rock]
The only non-musical performer to appear was comedian Dave Chappelle, who spoke early on in the program about hosting Saturday Night Live alongside musical guests Foo Fighters back in 2020. Shortly thereafter, he was invited to sing Radiohead‘s “Creep” with the band at the reopening of Madison Square Garden, where he met Taylor’s son Shane.
“I met a kid, who must have been 12 or 13 years old, and I asked him, cause he had skate shoes on, if he skated. And he said, ‘I don’t skate because I don’t want to hurt my arm.’ And I said what kind of answer is that? A simple yes or no would have sufficed,” Chappelle recalled. “The kid said, ‘I want to be a drummer, like my father.’ In that room, in Madison Square Garden, even though I met Foo Fighters many nights, I felt like I met [Taylor] for the first time… It was my first time seeing [Taylor] being a dad. And what a cool fucking dad.”
At the end of the night, we went downtown to the Blue Note, a jazz club in New York City,” Chappelle continued. “We watched Robert Glasper, and I listened to Taylor and his son the whole night talking about the drummer. And I remember Shane said to his father, ‘Dad, you can’t do that shit.’ I had never heard someone talk to a rock star that way. And Taylor Hawkins, as humble as he was, said, ‘Son, those are real musicians.’ Taylor Hawkins is a legend of a man, a legend of a musician, and a legend of a father.”
A number of themes would emerge throughout Saturday’s marathon performance, including the next generation of musicians taking its seat at the table. The children are our future, and performances from Violet Grohl, Nandi Bushell, and Shane Hawkins proved as much as the teenagers held their own with some of music’s biggest stars. Violet Grohl commanded the spotlight early on with a performance of Amy Winehouse‘s “Valerie” as well as takes on Jeff Buckley‘s “Last Goodbye” and “Grace”.
No doubt that tonight’s tribute to #TaylorHawkins will be a shift in Violet Grohl’s life. She burst like a flower @wembleystadium and it was beautiful 😍 #FooFighters pic.twitter.com/g7S0FqV3jO
— Leleina Pierce (@LeleinaPierce) September 3, 2022
Grohl on drums with his daughter on vocals singing Jeff Buckley’s Last Goodbye in tribute to Taylor 😭 https://t.co/zfiGpaGBdy pic.twitter.com/hCGfGil10T
— Dylan 🤟 🇺🇸 (@dylanparks) September 3, 2022
Bushell, Grohl’s former online opponent turn onstage collaborator, came out during Foo Fighters’ headlining set to sit behind the kit on “Learn To Fly”. Though she was introduced as “the world’s coolest drummer,” on Saturday that title surely went to Shane Hawkins. Taylor’s 16-year-old son was the final drummer to sit behind the kit for Foo Fighters’ set, which also included appearances by Travis Barker, Rufus Taylor, Omar Hakim, and Bushell. Hawkins beat the kit to a bloody pulp on a cathartic rendition of “My Hero” as the penultimate song of the evening.
Foo Fighters, Nandi Bushell – “Learn To Fly” – 9/3/22
[Video: Nandi Bushell]
Foo Fighters, Shane Hawkins – “My Hero” – 9/3/22
Another headline to emerge from the Taylor Hawkins Forever tribute concert was the reunion of Them Crooked Vultures. The supergroup composed of Grohl, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) had not performed live together in 12 years after releasing an eponymous debut album in 2009 and touring behind it. The group, joined during live performances by guitarist Alain Johannes and collaborator Greg Kurstin on keys, began with a cover of Elton John‘s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” following a video message from Sir Elton. Them Crooked Vultures then performed the original “Gunman” and finally QOSTA’s “Long Slow Goodbye”.
Them Crooked Vultures – “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (Elton John) – 9/3/22
[Video: Will]
Them Crooked Vultures reunido novamente no show-tributo ao Taylor Hawkins. Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, John P Jones e Alain Johannes. CARALHO pic.twitter.com/JetXyK7WTI
— Teco (@Edukator_Teco) September 3, 2022
Them Crooked Vultures weren’t the only band to reunite on Saturday, as Joe Walsh got the James Gang back together. The power trio of Walsh, Dale Peters (bass), and Jim Fox (drums) had not performed live since September 2nd, 2006, almost 16 years ago to the day. Grohl stepped in for the classic rockers’ performance, which included hits “Funk #49”, “Walk Away”, and the medley “The Bomber: Closet Queen” / “Boléro”/ “Cast Your Fate to the Wind”. The performance served as a preview of Walsh’s upcoming VetsAid in Columbus, OH next month when Grohl will sit in with James Gang for the band’s last ride.
Saturday also saw tributes to the many musicians who went before Hawkins, and who he is now playing beside in rock n’ roll paradise. The first such tribute came early on when Josh Homme teamed up with Chris Chaney, Omar Hakim, and Nile Rodgers to honor David Bowie with covers of “Let’s Dance” and “Modern Love”.
Nile Rodgers, Chris Chaney, Omar Hakim, & Josh Homme – Let’s Dance (David Bowie) – 9/3/22
Wolfgang Van Halen would lead a tribute to his late father Eddie, who helmed one of Hawkins’ favorite bands. The son played his father’s part on the incendiary “Hot For Teacher” as well as “On Fire”, along with Grohl, Josh Freese, and The Darkness‘ Justin Hawkins (no relation). Tributes also came in for legendary vocalists like Amy Winehouse, honored by Violet Grohl, and Freddie Mercury, with his surviving Queen bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor leading charges through “We Will Rock You”, “I’m In Love With My Car”, “Under Pressure” and “Somebody To Love”, with May delivering a solo “Love Of My Life”.
Wolfgang Van Halen shredding “hot for teacher” with Dave Grohl & Justin Hawkins 🎸 @foofighters @MammothWVH @thedarkness #TaylorHawkinsWembley #TaylorHawkins
EVH is 😊 somewhere pic.twitter.com/UUiNUoNPFI— The 3rd Corey (@undacuvabrutha) September 3, 2022
Brian May, Roger Taylor, Foo Fighters, Justin Hawkins, Rufus Taylor – “I’m in Love With My Car” – 9/3/22
[Video: Carolinas Concert Videos]
Brian May, Roger Taylor, Foo Fighters, Justin Hawkins – “I’m in Love With My Car” – 9/3/22
[Video: Will]
Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson also paid tribute to their late bandmate Neil Peart, one of Hawkins’ all-time favorite drummers. Grohl joined the bassist and guitarist for takes on “2112 Overture”, “Working Man”, and “YYZ”, the latter of which they dedicated to both Hawkins and Peart.
Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Dave Grohl – “2112 Overture”, “Working Man” – 9/3/22
[Video: Seth Mandel]
As if there wasn’t enough fanfare already, the last major surprise of the evening came with an appearance by Sir Paul McCartney. The Beatle emerged toward the end of Foo Fighters’ set to sing “Oh! Darling” with The Pretenders‘ Chrissie Hynde before rocking out with the Foos on “Helter Skelter”.
Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, Chrissie Hynde – “Oh! Darling” – 9/3/22
[Video: Gigs (KrisLW)]
Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney – “Helter Skelter” – 9/3/22
[Video: BigWelshMark]
As the concert began to wind down toward the six-hour mark, Foo Fighters performed “one of Taylor Hawkins’ favorite Foo Fighters songs,” “Auoroa”, before welcoming Shane for “My Hero”. Finally, as the 50th and final song of the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert, the rest of the band left Dave Grohl alone onstage. The bandleader performed a solo rendition of “Everlong” on guitar, whispering softly to his departed friend, “And I wonder, when I sing along with you/If everything could ever be this real forever/If anything could ever be this good again.”
Foo Fighters – “Aurora” – 9/3/22
[Video: Will]
Dave Grohl –”Everlong” – 9/3/22
[Video: Seth Mandel]
Check out the complete setlist from the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium courtesy of Consequence. The entire show is available to stream on Paramount+.