Foo Fighters have pulled out of their planned performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards this Sunday (April 3) after Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins unexpectedly died at age 50 last week.
It was expected that the Dave Grohl-led rockers would take a rain check on the Grammys ceremony after calling off all of their upcoming tour dates to mourn the late musician and close Grohl compatriot. The cancelation was subsequently confirmed by Rolling Stone on Thursday (March 31).
But the Grammy telecast will still honor Hawkins. CBS executive Jack Sussman told Variety, “We will honor his memory in some way. We want to figure out what is the right thing to do that is respectful to everyone involved. We’re patient. We’ll be planning.”
Foo Fighters are nominated for three Grammys this year — Best Rock Performance (for “Making a Fire”), Best Rock Song (“Waiting on a War”) and Best Rock Album (last year’s Medicine at Midnight).
Over the last week, memorials from across entertainment have shown Hawkins’ importance to rock. Machine Gun Kelly, Paul McCartney and Perry Farrell saluted him. Even U.S. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden joined in the praise. Remembering Grohl’s past words about Hawkins, the Foos leader once said it was “love at first sight” when he met the drummer.
But Hawkins wasn’t just a Foo Fighter. Before Foos, he backed Alanis Morissette and Sass Jordan, among others. Later, he led Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders, Chevy Metal and The Birds of Satan. He co-founded the supergroup NHC.
The cause of Hawkins’ death is still being determined after he was found dead in his hotel room in Bogota, Colombia, just before the Foos were to play the city’s Festival Estereo Picnic. A preliminary toxicology report showed Hawkins had 10 different substances in his system at the time of his death.
The Grammys air on CBS live from Las Vegas on Sunday at 8PM ET/PT.
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