Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has made an emotional return home after the shock death of Taylor Hawkins, as Miley Cyrus tearfully paid tribute on stage to the band’s beloved drummer.
Grohl and his bandmates were visibly distraught as they landed in Los Angeles following Hawkins’ sudden death while on tour in Colombia.
Hawkins, 50, was found dead on Friday in a Four Seasons hotel room in Bogota. The announcement came hours before the band was due to perform as part of the Asunciónico music festival.
In photos shared by US media on Sunday (local time), a shaken Grohl was seen embracing his long-time friend and manager John Silva at Los Angeles airport, as the Foo Fighters crew mourned the loss of Hawkins.
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The emotional scenes came as tributes from the music world continued to flow for Hawkins, with friend Miley Cyrus dedicating her weekend performance at Lollapalooza in Brazil to the Foo Fighters drummer.
The singer broke down on stage during her set, addressing the crowd and paying tribute to Hawkins with a performance of her song Angels Like You.
Cyrus, whose plane was struck by lightning on her flight to Paraguay on Thursday, told the audience the late drummer was the first person she called after the subsequent emergency landing.
“We had to make an emergency landing, and the first person I called was Taylor because he was already at the festival and that would have been a time that I would have gotten to see my friend and I didn’t,” US media reports Cyrus saying.
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“I would have done anything to hang out with him one more time.”
Cyrus, 29, was due to perform at the same festival as the Foo Fighters in Paraguay but was unable to make the concert due to her flight’s redirection. The festival was cancelled due to poor weather.
Before Saturday’s performance, Cyrus said she felt “heartbroken and human” in the wake of the tragic news, announcing the tribute of her show.
“Tonight’s show is in honour of my friend Taylor Hawkins. The most badass dude I know who would want me to shine and sing LOUD for the love of rock n roll!” Cyrus wrote on Twitter.
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Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello praised Hawkins’ “unstoppable rock power” in his own online tribute.
“I loved your spirit and your unstoppable rock power. Rest In Peace my friend.”
Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr also expressed his condolences and wished “peace and love” for those close to Hawkins.
Oscar-nominated producer Finneas O’Connell said “the world was lucky” to have experienced Hawkins’ “gifts”.
“So heartbroken to hear about Taylor Hawkins’ passing, what an incredible talent, who didn’t also need to be so kind and generous and cool but was all those things too anyway,” he said.
British rocker Ozzy Osbourne praised Taylor Hawkins as a “great person and an amazing musician” and promised to “see him on the other side”.
Bill Idol said the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was “so tragic”.
The tributes kept coming, as Colombian authorities said Hawkins had an assortment of drugs in his system when he died.
An initial forensic medical examination and urine toxicology report of the musician’s body revealed 10 substances in his system, including THC (marijuana), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids, according to a statement from the Colombian attorney-general’s office on Saturday via Twitter.
“The National Institute of Forensic Medicine continues to conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death,” the attorney-general’s office statement added.
“The Attorney-General’s Office will continue to investigate and will duly inform the findings of forensic examinations in due time.”
Hawkins had a history of drug use. A heroin overdose in 2001 left him in a coma.
“I was partying in London one night, and I mistakenly did something and it changed everything,” Hawkins told Kerrang! magazine in 2019.
“I believed the bulls–t myth of ‘live hard and fast, die young’. I’m not here to preach about not doing drugs, because I loved doing drugs, but I just got out of control for a while and it almost got me.
“I was heading down a road that was going to lead to even worse paths. I’m glad it got knocked on the head at that point. I go mountain biking now.”
-with AAP
