Taylor Hawkins' heart weighed double that of most men his age when he tragically died, according to Colombian officials.
Forensic experts are said to have discovered the Foo Fighters drummer's heart weighed "at least 600 grams" during an autopsy following his shock death on Friday at a luxury hotel in the north of the Colombian capital Bogota.
Investigators have concluded the 50-year-old suffered cardiovascular collapse after binging on a cocktail of drugs, respected Colombian news magazine Semana reported.
It also said authorities had confirmed to them the famed musician had overdosed on heroin mixed with antidepressants and benzodiazepines which are psychoactive drugs known as benzos.
Colombia’s Attorney General’s office has already confirmed an initial autopsy carried out yesterday/on Saturday revealed traces of 10 different drugs in Hawkins’ urine, including opioids which can range from heroin to fentanyl and morphine.
It also revealed in a statement marihuana and antidepressants were detected.
The federal government department did not mention cocaine in its post-autopsy statement, although earlier unconfirmed reports pointed to a “white cocaine-like powder” being found in Hawkins’ room at the Four Seasons Hotel Casa Medina.
The alarm was raised on Friday night when the drummer complained of chest pains ahead of his band’s headline performance at the Estereo Picnic Festival in Bogota.
Efforts to revive him by a private doctor and city emergency responders failed and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dad-of-three Hawkins suffered a heroin overdose in London in 2001 that left him in a coma for around a week.
In an interview last year he admitted: “Everyone has their own path and I took it too far.
"I was partying in London one night, and I mistakenly did something and it changed everything.
"I believed the bull***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.”
The normal weight of a human heart in adult men is around 300 to 350 grams.
A heavier-than-normal heart weight may be associated with cardiac diseases including cardiomyopathy which makes it harder for the organ to pump blood to the rest of the body and can lead to heart failure.
Drug use can cause damage to the heart and the use of toxic substances is a main risk factor for sudden cardiac death.
Soccer legend Diego Maradona’s heart was found to weigh 503 grams after his shock death aged 60 in November 2020 at a rented home near the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
At the time the weight of his heart was described as being almost double that of a normal heart for a man his age.
An initial post-mortem on Maradona’s body revealed the recovering cocaine addict, who also had alcohol problems, had suffered heart failure which caused a pulmonary edema.
Medics also detected dilated cardiomyopathy, a medical condition in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and enlarged.
In its statement released late yesterday/on Saturday, Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office said: “Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins was found dead in a hotel room on Friday in Bogota.
“After concluding an initial forensic examination of the body the Attorney General’s Office would like to communicate the following:
1) Preliminary results of the urine toxicology test indicate the presence of 10 different substances: THX (Marihuana), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and opioids among others.
2) The National Institute of Forensic Medicine continues to conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death.
3) The Attorney General’s office will continue to investigate and will duly inform the findings of forensic examinations in due time.
