Shane Hawkins and Violet Grohl triumph at Taylor Hawkins tribute show
The recent tribute concert in honour of late Foo Fighters Drummer Taylor Hawkins saw some of the biggest names in music amass for an emotional concert at London’s Wembley Stadium. The most moving performances, however, were delivered by two young musicians called Shane Hawkins and Violet Grohl.
Shane, Taylor’s 16-year-old son, took his father’s position behind the kit for the penultimate performance of the evening. His stunning rendition of ‘My Hero’, proves the young drummer is as talented as his father. Taylor Hawkins passed away on March 25th, 2022. He recorded nine studio albums with Foo Fighters between 1997 and 2021.
Comedian Dave Chappelle was also present at the concert and shared an anecdote about meeting Shane backstage at a Foo Fighters gig: “I met a kid, who must have been 12 or 13 years old, and I asked him, cause he had skate shoes on, if he skated. And he said, ‘I don’t skate because I don’t want to hurt my arm.’”
Chapelle continued: “I said ‘what kind of answer is that?’ A simple yes or no would have sufficed.’ The kid said, ‘I want to be a drummer, like my father.’ In that room, in Madison Square Garden, even though I met Foo Fighters many nights, I felt like I met [Taylor] for the first time… It was my first time seeing [Taylor] being a dad. And what a cool fucking dad.”
Elsewhere, Dave Grohl’s daughter, Violet, delivered three covers: singing lead on Jeff Buckley’s ‘Last Goodbye’ and ‘Grace’, for which she was joined by her father Greg Kurstin, Alain Johannes, Chris Chaney, and Jason Falkner. She also took on a rendition of The Zutons’ ‘Valerie’.
The concert also saw 12-year-old drumming icon Nandi Bushell make a suprise appearance to perform ‘Learn to Fly’ with Foo Fighters. You can see footage of Shane, Violet and Bushell’s performances below.
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