Alanis Morissette paid tribute to the late Taylor Hawkins during her concert at the O2 Arena in London on Tuesday night (June 28).
During her performance of “Ironic,” images of Hawkins played on the screen on stage behind her, ending with the words “In Memory of Taylor Hawkins.” Hawkins played in Morisette’s live band for the tour in support of her album, Jagged Little Pill, in 1995. He played drums for the artist until 1997, when he joined Foo Fighters.
“During his stint as Alanis Morissette’s drummer, long before he became a Foo Fighter, we would bump into each other backstage at festivals all over the world, and our chemistry was so obvious that even Alanis herself once asked him, ‘What are you going to do when Dave asks you to be his drummer?’” Dave Grohl wrote about his history with Hawkins in his 2021 autobiography, The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music.
The beloved drummer died unexpectedly in March at age 50 after he was found dead in his Bogotá, Colombia, hotel room, according to local news reports. His death was announced via a social media statement from the band’s accounts on March 25, with no immediate cause of death given. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the statement read. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever.”
Morissette is set to perform at one of two tribute concerts remembering the late star. She will join Miley Cyrus, Gene Simmons, Nikki Sixx, Chad Smith, Luke Spiller, Jon Theodore, Brad Will and Pat Wilson, among others, to perform at the show on Sept. 27 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
The London tribute to Hawkins will take place on Sept. 3 at Wembley Stadium. Liam Gallagher, Josh Homme, Chrissie Hynde, Brian May, Mark Ronson, Stewart Copeland, Geddy Lee, Roger Taylor, Rufus Taylor, Omar Hakim, Chris Chaney, Wolfgang Van Halen and more are scheduled to perform.
