“She’s really talented”: Taylor Hawkins on the musician who outplayed every member of Foo Fighters
From 1997 until his tragic passing in 2022, Taylor Hawkins was the indomitable force behind the drums in Foo Fighters. While the band’s founder, Dave Grohl, was also an accomplished drummer himself, it was almost inevitable that when he decided to recruit a full band around him after the release of the self-titled debut in 1995 that Grohl worked on by himself, he would have to bring in a drummer of the highest quality to be able to live up to the standard he had set.
Of course, the rest of the musicians that Grohl brought in when establishing the full-band lineup of Foo Fighters were also incredibly adept at their roles, and the musicianship of the group was always one of the reasons why they became such a dominant force in rock music during the late 1990s and 2000s. While they were arguably a lot less grunge-oriented than Nirvana, Grohl’s previous band, their approach to melody was something that saw them carry the torch that Kurt Cobain had left behind for them.
Despite all being at the top of their game, the group have never been able to take their position for granted, and with that, the assumption that they’ll always be better than all of their peers is something that they couldn’t find themselves falling into. The talents of other musicians and acts around them are arguably something that would have pushed the band to constantly stay on their a-game, and often, they would find themselves in awe of others who graced their presence.
However, the one artist that left Hawkins, in particular, more stunned than any other was neither a contemporary of theirs in the rock world nor an old legend who was able to prove that they still had it. Surprisingly, the artist who left the drummer with his jaw on the floor was more aligned with the modern folk and jazz movements.
“Made us all look like we’re not even musicians.”
taylor hawkins
Having released their ambitious double album, In Your Honor, in 2005, Foo Fighters found themselves in the running for five awards at the Grammys in early 2006, with one of those awards being for ‘Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals’ for their song, ‘Virginia Moon’. Featuring the Grammy favourite Norah Jones on vocals and piano, the track was part of the acoustic half of the album, which saw them pursue a softer side of their songwriting ability, and in a 2006 interview with Hawkins prior to the Grammys, he reflected on the band’s time in the studio with Jones.
“She’s really talented,” he confessed. “She came into the studio, bro, and made us all look like we’re not even musicians. Like, she’s a musician, and we’re people who can just kind of move our hands around a little bit on guitars and drums.”
While many would assert that the Foo Fighters are also, indeed, musicians, to be blown away by one artist who could seemingly do everything they could better was a humbling moment for Hawkins and the rest of the band and one that they would undoubtedly have used to push themselves even further on future releases.
Being around other incredible talents can be an inspiring thing, and while they didn’t end up winning the Grammy for their duet with Jones, they can be proud of the work they produced together.
