Taylor Hawkins had a gut feeling that Miley Cyrus could absolutely “kill” a cover of Def Leppard‘s 1983 Pyromania classic “Photograph.” We know he was right because Miley did just that on Tuesday (Sept. 27) during the mega-star tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer at the Kia Forum, where she joined the veteran British glam rock band for a fiery rendition of one of their signature hits.
We also know it because on Wednesday (Sept. 28), Miley shared a sweet old voicemail she saved from Taylor in which he encouraged her to take a swing at the pop metal ballad. “A personal request from the legend himself. #TaylorHawkins my friend, my idol…. My neighbor,” wrote Cyrus about the legendarily sweet, energetic and encouraging timekeeper who died at 50 on March 25 while on tour with the Foo Fighters in Bogotá, Colombia. “Growing up on a farm I never could see the light of another house nearby, but living by Taylor for the years that I did out in LA were some of the most fun times of my life.”
“What up Miley? It’s Taylor. I heard you’re movin’. Waaah!,” Hawkins says on the scratchy, undated, recording about Cyrus leaving his neighborhood. “I’m listening to ‘Photograph’ by Def Leppard. You could kill that one.” In a follow-up tweet, Miley wrote, “I miss Taylor so much like everybody else. It was such an honor to celebrate him last night and perform w @DefLeppard. So lucky to have known him not just as a superstar but to have spent time watching him just be a dad and a husband!”
And, of course, Hawkins was totally right, as Cyrus — dressed in a short black dress and black sunglasses with sun-kissed blonde hair flowing — absolutely crushed “Photograph” at the tribute show alongside Leppard singer Joe Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen, along with Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl and band guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett and Weezer drummer Pat Wilson.
The rock manifestation was just one highlight of a six-hour marathon that included performances from P!nk, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Rush, Queen, Wolfgang Van Halen, Alanis Morissette, Jack Black, Dave Chapelle, Hawkins’ cover band Chevy Metal and his side project The Coattail Riders, as well as Kesha, Greg Kurstin, Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow, The Darkness, John Paul Jones, Mötley Crüe, The James Gang, Queens Of The Stone Age, Elliot Easton of The Cars, Steward Copeland of The Police, Sebastian Bach, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Taylor Momsen singing with Soundgarden and the Foos; the gig, and a similar one held at London’s Wembley Stadium on Sept. 3, benefitted the charities MusiCares and Music Support, which supports musicians in the U.S. and U.K.
Listen to Miley’s voicemail and watch the performance below.
