Queen’s Roger Taylor has dedicated his OBE to the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Taylor was found dead in a Colombia hotel room last Saturday at the age of 50.
Early reports suggest he died of a heart attack, possibly brought on by a drug overdose as white powder was allegedly found in the room.
A post-mortem revealed he had a cocktail of 10 different drugs in his body when he died and his heart was twice as heavy it should have been.
Receiving an OBE for services to music from Prince Charles at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, Roger said he was dedicating his award to “one of his very greatest friends”.
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Describing Taylor as “sunshine in human form”, the 72-year-old revealed he counted the Foo Fighters member among his top musical influences.
He revealed the rock ‘n’ roll star had even acted as a mentor to his own son, Rufus, 31, who is the drummer for English rock band The Darkness.
Roger added he and the rest of the music world were still coming to terms with the news Taylor was gone.
Speaking alongside his wife Sarina after the OBE ceremony, he said: “We’re still so upset about it and completely devastated.
“My whole family and his whole family were very close. He was, as my wife called him, sunshine in human form.
“He was the most wonderful man and I can’t quite believe that I’m not going to see him again.
“He’s done a lot to help my son, who’s a great drummer, and he actually sort of mentored him. We’re going to miss him so much.”
Queen legend Roger is often ranked as one of the greatest drummers in rock history for his unique sound – and was no doubt a hero of Taylor’s.
Asked how he felt about being made an OBE, Roger said he reacted with “disbelief”, adding: “But it’s been a nice job.”
On visiting the royal residence, he joked: “It’s a nice gaff isn’t it?,” and said it had been “lovely” to receive the honour from Prince Charles.
Along with frontman Freddie Mercury, Roger was one of the founding members of Queen in 1970 spawning big hits like Bohemian Rhapsody and We Will Rock You.
But his music career could have ended very differently if he had taken up the offer to join Genesis as a drummer the same year.
Queen became one of the biggest rock bands the world has ever seen and still perform to this day.
However, since the death of Freddie Mercury to AIDS in 1991 the band perform with a new frontman, Adam Lambert, who has toured with them since 2011.
