Rush, AC/DC, Metallica, Queen Stars Help Foo Fighters Tribute Taylor Hawkins

09-04-2022

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The Foo Fighters returned to the stage on Saturday night (August 3rd) to lead an all-star tribute to their late drummer Taylor Hawkins at Wembley Stadium in London.

The evening started with the member of the Foo Fighters taking the stage and frontman Dave Grohl addressing the crowd, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we've gathered here to celebrate the life, the music and the love of our dear friend, our bandmate, our brother Taylor Hawkins.

"For those of you who knew him personally, you know that no one else could make you smile or laugh or dance or sing like he could. And for those of you admired him from afar, I'm sure you've all felt the same thing.
"So, tonight we've gathered with family and his closest friends, his musical heroes and greatest inspirations to bring you a gigantic f***ing night for a gigantic f***ing person.

"So, sing and dance and laugh and cry and f***ing scream and make some f***ing noise so he can hear us right now. 'Cause you know what? It's gonna be a loooong f***ing night, right?"

Grohl then introduced the first star to join them on stage for the evening, former Oasis star Liam Gallagher, "Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you f***ing ready? Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Liam Gallagher."

The Foo Fighters and Liam Gallagher then went on to perform two Oasis classics, "Rock 'N' Roll Star" and "Live Forever".

Nile Rodgers (Chic), Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction, Alanis Morissette, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders and Camp Freddy. and Omar Hakim (Chic, Dire Straits, more) then took over for two David Bowie covers. First "Let's Dance", which they performed with Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, followed by "Modern Love" featuring Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes.

Chevy Metal was up next for a cover of the Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer," and then they were joined by Kesha for a performance of T. Rex's "Children Of the Revolution".

The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins, A Perfect Circle's Josh Freese and Taylor Hawkin's former The Coattail Riders bandmates performed, "Louise", "Range Rover Bitch," and "It's Over".

Wolfgang Van Halen, Dave Grohl, Justin Hawkins and Josh Freese then went on to rock the Van Halen classics, "On Fire" and "Hot For Teacher".

Grohl, his daughter Violet, Alain Johannes, Chris Chaney, Greg Kurstin and Jellyfish star Jason Falkner came next to cover the Jeff Buckley songs "Last Goodbye" and "Grace".

Supergrass took the stage next to rock "Richard III", "Alright", and "Caught By The Fuzz".

Fans were then treated to a reunion of the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, featuring Grohl, Homme, and Led Zeppelin legend John Paul Jones, who performed the Elton John classic, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," followed by "Gunman," and "Long Slow Goodbye."

Grohl then joined The Pretenders for "Precious," "Tattooed Love Boys", and "Brass In Pocket".

The Eagles icon Joe Walsh then reunited with his James Gang bandmates for "Walk Away" and "The Bomber: Closet Queen / Bolero / Cast Your Fate To The Wind", before being joined by Grohl for "Funk No. 49".

The Zutons' "Valerie" was next performed by Violet Grohl, Mark Ronson, Chris Chaney and Jason Falkner.

Fans were then treated to special AC/DC set by the Foo Fighters, Metallica's Lars Ulrich and AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson featuring the classic tracks "Back In Black," and "Let There Be Rock".

Police icon Stewart Copeland next jammed two of his band's iconic songs, "Next To You" and "Every Little Thing She Does in Magic", with the Foo Fighters.

This tribute to Taylor also brought about the onstage reunion of Rush legends Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. They were first joined by Grohl for "2112 Part 1: Overture" and "Working Man", and then jammed their famed instrumental "YYZ" with Omar Hakim.

Queen icons Brian May and Roger Taylor next took the stage with Roger's son and their touring drummer Rufus Taylor (The Darkness) and the Foo Fighters for a five song set featuring special guests on three songs.

They launched the set with The Struts' Luke Spiller joining them for "We Will Rock You", followed by a performance of "I'm In Love With My Car", then Justin Hawkins helped them perform the Queen/David Bowie classic, "Under Pressure."

Eurovision and TikTok star Sam Ryder next jumped on stage with Queen and the Foo Fighters for a performance of "Somebody To Love", and they ended the set with "Love Of My Life".

Foo Fighters took over for a set featuring special guests. Josh Freese helped then kick things off with "Times Like These", and "All My Life".

Blink-182's Travis Barker then joined the Foo Fighters for "The Pretender" and "Monkey Wrench". 12-year-old drum prodigy Nandi Bushell then rocked the classic hit "Learn To Fly" with the band.

They were next joined by special guest Rufus Taylor and performances of "These Days" and "Best Of You".

Paul McCartney, the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, Omar Hakim, took the stage with Dave Grohl and Pat Smear to rock the Beatles classics "Oh! Darling" and "Helter Skelter".

Hakim remained on stage with Foo Fighters for a performance of "Aurora". Then Taylor Hawkins's son Shane joined the band for "My Hero", and they wrapped up the night with their classic "Everlong".