Foo Fighters have announced two tribute concerts for the late-drummer Taylor Hawkins for September, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. The shows will take place on September 3rd at London's Wembley Arena and September 27th at L.A.'s Kia Forum. The other performers participating have yet to be announced.
Taylor Hawkins died on March 25th at age 50 after suffering an alleged drug overdose in Columbia.
The band announced the shows in a press release, which reads:
Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee will come together with the Hawkins family to celebrate the life, music and love of their husband, father, brother and bandmate with the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts.
Millions mourned his untimely passing on March 25, with passionate and sincere tributes coming from fans as well as musicians Taylor idolized. The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts will unite several of those artists, the Hawkins family and of course his Foo Fighters brothers in celebration of Taylor’s memory and his legacy as a global rock icon — his bandmates and his inspirations playing the songs that he fell in love with, and the ones he brought to life.
Taylor Hawkins' widow Aliosn tweeted a message to fans on the drummer's official account, which read:
My deepest thanks and admiration go out to the global Foo Fighters community and Taylor's fans far and wide for the outpouring of love each and every one of you have shown our beloved Taylor. Your kindness has been an invaluable comfort my family and me during this time of unimaginable grief.
As Taylor's wife, and on behalf of our children, I want to share how much you meant to him and how dedicated he was to 'knocking your socks off' during every performance. Taylor was honored to be a part of the Foo Fighters and valued his dream role in the band every minute of his 25 years with them. We considered every band member and the extended Foo Fighters team our family.
Taylor's endearing spirit and deep love of music will live on forever through the collaborations he so enjoyed having with other musicians and the catalog of songs he contributed to and created.
In celebration of his life, it is now up to all of us who loved him most to honor Taylor's legacy and the music he gave us.
Thank you all again for your love and sympathy. Taylor loved all of you & we love you too.
With gratitude,
Alison Hawkins
Foo Fighters have always been known for regularly playing three-hour concerts. A while back Taylor Hawkins admitted that although they can be a challenge — it's always life affirming: ["It's a lot. I don't know how long we can keep that up. We'll see. I don't know how long Dave's gonna be able to sing for three hours every night when we get onstage. It's awesome and it's fun and it's the macho trip a little bit, and people get their money's worth, that's for damn sure."] SOUNDCUE (:14 OC: . . . for damn sure)
