Foo Fighters are honoring their late drummer Taylor Hawkins with an all-star tribute concert today (September 3) at London’s Wembley Stadium. The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert kicked off at 11:30 a.m. EST and is airing live on TV and online. Paramount will broadcast the event live on Paramount+ in the U.S., on Pluto TV internationally, and on MTV’s YouTube channels. The concert will also be available on-demand via Paramount+ starting September 3, with streaming options available on Pluto TV and MTV on-demand beginning the week of September 5.
Foo Fighters opened the show with a cover of Oasis’ “Rock ‘N’ Roll Star” with Liam Gallagher on lead vocals and Dave Grohl on drums. Immediately preceding that, Grohl gave a speech in Hawkins’ honor:
Ahead of the concert, Foo Fighters revealed that a number of high-profile artists would also perform, many of whom were collaborators or friends with Hawkins. Taylor’s son Shane Hawkins, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Queen’s Roger Taylor and Brian May, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, RUSH’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, and the Police’s Stewart Copeland are all slated to perform.
Also scheduled to appear at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert are Liam Gallagher, Queens of the Stone Age’s Joshua Homme and Alain Johannes, Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney, the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, Nile Rodgers, Travis Barker, Kesha, Dave Chappelle, Josh Freese, members of Hawkins’ covers band Chevy Metal, and Dave Grohl’s daughter Violet Grohl.
Proceeds from today’s concert will be split between charities Music Support and MusiCares, both of which were chosen by the Hawkins family. The London concert will be followed by another tribute concert at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on September 27.
Hawkins died this March while touring with Foo Fighters in Bogotá, Colombia. His official cause of death has not been revealed. He was 50 years old. In the days following his death, Hawkins’ friends Chad Smith (of Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Matt Cameron (of Pearl Jam) discussed his final days. Both friends later apologized for the quotes they gave in an interview.