On March 25, Foo Fighters were supposed to perform a concert in Bogotá, Colombia. However, shortly before the band was set to go on, Taylor Hawkins died. Chic was enlisted as the opening act for that show, and now the band’s Nile Rodgers remembers being told about Hawkins’ passing just before he was going to take the stage.
CBS Mornings got some backstage interviews with artists who performed at the Hawkins tribute concert in London this past weekend and Rodgers said of learning about Hawkins’ death, “We could feel that something was wrong. So my stage manager pulls me aside and said, ‘Taylor has passed away.’ So this was our best way of making it up and our best way of saying to Taylor, ‘Goodbye, we love you,’ and to Dave [Grohl], who I adore.”
He also said of Hawkins, “There are those few drummers who really can sing and play and they’re really in the pocket, and Taylor had that vibe. He had a lot of personality coming from him.”
At the tribute concert, Rodgers was one of the first performers, taking the stage right after Liam Gallagher opened the show, joining Foo Fighters for a couple of Oasis songs. Rodgers, Chris Chaney, and Omar Hakim performed two David Bowie covers: “Let’s Dance” with John Homme and “Modern Love” with Gaz Coombes.
Check out the CBS Mornings segment above.