Everlong Taylor Hawkins: His Legacy
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The Foo Fighters have had our heads banging since 1994, consistently giving us hits over the years. While Everlong may be their “greatest hit,” they are far from one-hit wonders. Throughout the decades, they have stayed true to their sound and kept their presence alive in the ever-changing rock scene. The band was brought to life by David Grohl, their founder, after the passing of Kurt Cobain and the subsequent disbanding of Nirvana, in which David played the drums. Tragically, the Foo Fighters have lost a bandmate of their own, Taylor Hawkins. His untimely passing has struck the rock community, and many stars are using their platforms to reflect on his legacy.
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Taylor Hawkins became one of the world's favorite drummers by curating a sound that combined the techniques of rock’s greatest drummers. He drew inspiration from people like Roger Taylor, Ringo Starr, and Alex Van Halen. He never failed to give credit where it was due, either. Anytime he won an award or received a compliment in an interview he was quick to minimize his achievements. Accrediting those who have inspired him, too. He was known to be incredibly humble, although one of the greatest of all time. Hawkins often credited Alex van Halen for his furious performative drumming. He gave the world a visual performance as well as an auditory one. He gave the world passion through his natural talent. Taylor began to learn the drums in middle school and started playing along with some of his favorite rock songs to practice. His isolated drum tracks—which are surfacing more than ever due to his death—are proof that Hawkins was a mastermind. Rope (Wasting Light) appears on Wasting Light, which, surprisingly, was recorded in Grohl’s garage and serves as a great representation of what Hawkins can do. There are a lot of fills (which are drumming solos in between verses) that are springy and chaotic, and absolutely no digital editing, creating a raw rock and roll sound. We see much more like this all over the album, as it is completely digitally unedited. This album was constructed in 2011 and pays dedication to timeless rock music, music that Hawkins made a major contribution. After his passing, the world is left in mourning, wondering, inevitably, about the Foo Fighters' fate without their irreplaceable drummer.
Image Courtesy: The New York Times
The Foo Fighters still perform together after 23 years, and Hawkins had a lot to say about what kept them together for so long. Something he often repeated was how equal each bandmate was, they all created the whole, and there was no one outshining the other. He also talked about their sound and how they kept the Foo Fighters rock-and-roll rhythm, never drifting into various genres to keep up with trends.
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“Part of good rock and roll music is the realness of it, and the brutality of it, and the imperfection of it.” What makes their band so real is their long shelf life, the Foo’s will be talked about for years to come, and so will Hawkins. The people he inspired will never be the same, the media's current favorite rockstar, lead drummer of Blink-182, Travis Barker, took to Instagram to express his grief, reminiscing on smoking cigarettes and going on tour with Hawkins. Taylor passed while they were touring Lollapalooza Argentina in Bogota, Colombia. Not much is known about his death, only that the Foo Fighters have lost a key component to what made what was left of real rock-and-roll. With five Grammys for Best Rock Album and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Taylor Hawkins’ legacy lives on, humbly of course.
Strike Out,
Writer: Ella Selph
Editor: Roxy Rico
Graphic Designer: Katie Boucher
Tallahassee