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PRELIMINARY TOXICOLOGY TESTS have found that Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had marijuana, opioids and other drugs in his system before he died, Colombian investigators said today.
Hawkins, the 50-year-old drummer for the Grammy award-winning rock group, passed away in a hotel in Bogota shortly before the group was set to perform at the Festival Estereo Picnic on the city’s outskirts.
Colombian investigators said preliminary post-mortem tests found several drugs in the musician’s system but did not specify whether the mix caused his death.
“The urine toxicology tests performed on Taylor Hawkins’ body preliminarily found 10 types of substances,” including THC — which is found in marijuana — tricyclic anti-depressants, benzodiazepines and opioids, investigators said in a statement.
Forensic doctors were working “to achieve full clarity of the facts that led to (Hawkins’) death,” they said.
The mayor’s office said a local emergency line received a call late on Friday about a “patient complaining of chest pains.”
A doctor “performed the respective resuscitation maneuvers, but there was no response and the patient was declared deceased,” it said, giving no cause of death.
The festival announced the cancellation of the group’s show, as well as another one set for Sunday in Sao Paulo.
Thousands of shocked and tearful fans at the Bogota venue lit candles and held a minute of silence after the news broke.
“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band said in a statement on Twitter.
“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever.”
‘Amazing drummer’
As part of one of the world’s most influential and critically lauded alternative rock bands, Hawkins was known for his on-stage charisma and classic rock-inspired beats, which he once said were influenced by legends like Phil Collins and Queen’s Roger Taylor.
He had played with Foo Fighters since 1997, when he was taken on by lead singer and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, providing percussion on some of the group’s biggest hits, including “Learn to Fly” and “Best of You.”
Prior to joining Foo Fighters, Hawkins drummed for Canadian indie songstress Alanis Morissette.
In an interview with 95.5 KLOS last year, Grohl described his first meeting with Hawkins and how he convinced him to join his band.
“I was like, ‘Wow, you’re either my twin or my spirit animal, or my best friend!’ in the first 10 seconds of meeting him,” he said.
“And, of course, I’d seen him play the drums and I thought he was an amazing drummer,” he added.
“When I called him and said, ‘Hey, I’m looking for a drummer,’ he said, ‘You know I’m your guy.’ And I think it had more to do with our personal relationship than anything musical.”
Foo Fighters celebrated their 25th anniversary last year in a pandemic-delayed tour and had most recently produced “Studio 666,” a rock-and-roll horror movie.
Tributes poured in from across the music world, with Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne hailing Hawkins as a “great person and an amazing musician,” and punk rocker Billy Idol describing the news as “tragic.”
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello praised Hawkins’ “unstoppable rock power.”
“In utter disbelief at the news of Taylor Hawkins,” rockers Nickelback said in a statement on Twitter.
“Our deepest condolences to his family, his bandmates, his team, his friends and everyone that was ever touched by the music he created with @foofighters @Alanis and so many others.”
“Long live Taylor Hawkins,” rock band Pearl Jam said on Twitter.
“He brought so much joy to the world of music, he will be forever missed,” they said, offering condolences to Hawkins’ family and bandmates.
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What did I just frickin read!!!
That’s it, I’m laying off the rum for a while.
lol. this is obviously a promo for xnthony
I felt some sympathy until I read his name was xnthony Enough said..
Conveniently it gets him his 5 seconds of fame
Everyone in Europe should build a shed in there living room…. migrant housing crisis solved!
Was interested in hearing about the conditions of London “apartments” having looked for one myself not too long ago (one actually looked like Bag End from The Lord of The Rings) only to see it promoting Xnthony (?!). There’s no place for this promotion on this type of story.
Also, on an unrelated note, don’t forget to watch X-Factor this weekend on ITV… and only on ITV…
Is it not A-Factor now, just to keep with the theme.
I’ve hotboxed that shed. No word of a lie.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah fkn capitalism hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah humans lol hahaahahahahahhahahaha
Can they not squat any more? When I lived in London in the 80s, all the Irish lads lived in empty council flats. All you had to do was change the lock and open an electricity account and you were legit. If they wanted you out badly enough they’d take you to court but as there was a 7 year backlog on squatter eviction cases you’d have moved on long before then.
How do ya even pronounce Xnthony?
Cu-nt
Why does anyone want to live in London? Great for visit but living there I think would be hell.
at this rate my attic is a semi detached house ffs….!
I’ve slept in worse.
awful place to try to live in. . . noise…violence. .poverty. ..18 years experience there
and that was only in the shed!!!
My wife puts me in there for punishment. The dog house. Ruf,ruf
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