Photo: Getty Images
Since Taylor Hawkins' untimely passing last Friday (March 25), artists have been sharing tributes through social media and live performances, while others recalled memories of the late Foo Fighters drummer. In a recent interview, Machine Gun Kelly opened up about meeting Hawkins just two days before his death.
Both acts were scheduled to play a festival in Paraguay that ended up getting cancelled due to inclement weather. “It sucked because that day was the day the Foo Fighters were playing with us on the same stage,” MGK explained. “I had texted Dave [Grohl] and he was like, ’Yes, I’m gonna come watch the show’. They had never seen the show and that was the day where it was like, ‘Oh my God the Foo Fighters are gonna come watch our show!’"
“We were so excited, man. [But] the rain came and I saw lightning start to happen,” he continued. “So I’m texting Dave and we’re super bummed, and he’s like, ‘Come over to the hotel, we’re going to shut the rooftop down and we’ll have some drinks.'”
“We got out of the elevator, all 20 of [his entourage], and Taylor, Dave, the whole Foo Fighters team… but specifically Taylor, he went up to every single one of us and gave us each our moment," MGK added. "Like, every single one of us, man, down to my assistant – they’re relating over, ‘Oh you’re from Topanga? I’m from Topanga!’ It was like, dude, he’s such a beautiful soul, man...And the last thing [Hawkins] said to [MGK’s drummer] was: ‘I’m just so bummed I didn’t get to see you guys play.’”
After telling the touching story, MGK shared a message to Hawkins’ children: “I really want to thank him and let his kids know that he made us feel — in a time where the outside world, outside of the fans, was really coming in hard on us — he made us feel so confident in ourselves and loved. Your father is a great, great man and we were all lucky to know him, and we all appreciate that night more than anyone will know. That was a dream for us.”