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Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dead at 50

By Kelli Dugan, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
By Kelli Dugan, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

The Foo Fighters confirmed via Twitter late Friday that drummer Taylor Hawkins has died. He was 50.

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No cause of death was immediately provided.

In its statement, the band characterized Hawkins’ passing as a “tragic and untimely loss.”

The Foo Fighters were on tour in South America when news of Hawkins’ death broke. According to The Associated Press, the band played a festival in San Isidro, Argentina, on Sunday and had been scheduled to play at another in Bogotá, Colombia, on Friday night.

Hawkins, who joined the band in 1997 after a two-year stint as singer Alanis Morissette’s drummer, was also a strong singer who frequently took the microphone at concerts. often lent his voice to B-side recordings and co-wrote many of the Foo Fighters’ songs, Variety reported.

“An imaginative and rock-solid drummer, he had the seemingly thankless task of playing drums behind Foos frontman Dave Grohl, who is one of the greatest drummers in rock history. Hawkins filled that role with aplomb, bringing his own hard-hitting, time-juggling style to the band’s straight-ahead rock sound without trying to emulate Grohl,” the entertainment news outlet eulogized.

Born Oliver Taylor Hawkins in Fort Worth, Texas, he was raised in Laguna Beach, California, after relocated there with his family in 1976 at the age of 4.

According to Variety, rock singer Sass Jordan gave Hawkins his first professional gig, but he left in 1995 to join Morissette’s blockbuster “Jagged Little Pill” tour in 1995 and the Foo Fighters two years after that.

The Foo Fighters, who were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021, are slated to perform at the Grammy Awards on April 6.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison and their three children.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Taylor Hawkins Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters attends a cooking demonstration at BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival at Napa Valley Expo on Sunday, May 29, 2016, in Napa, Calif. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP) (Amy Harris/Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

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