Ash's Rick McMurray on Taylor Hawkins: "Every day he played the drums like it was his first festival, like he just couldn’t believe his luck"

Culture
21 Apr 22

Ash drummer Rick McMurray with Dave Grohl (right) and Taylor Hawkins (left).

The Hot Press Newsdesk

On March 25, 2022, the terrible news went out across the wires, the cables and the routers that Taylor Hawkins had died in his room in the Four Seasons Hotel Casa Medina Bogota, in the caiptal city of Columbia, Bogotá where his band Foo Fighters were on tour. Here, some of Ireland’s greatest drummers pay tribute.

Ash's Rick McMurray

Taylor Hawkins was unique. He started after I did – and he still became a hero to me. Hearing him playing, live or on record, it was just instantly clear that he was someone special – someone I could learn from.

As a drummer, he knew when to deploy and when to sit back and let the song do the talking. But beyond the drumming community, people were quickly won over by his personality. He had this surfer-dude, irrepressible energy. To me, that always shone through in his playing.

I’ll always remember seeing the Foo Fighters hanging backstage at a festival and meeting him. Taylor was always the one who couldn’t sit still. Every single day he played the drums like it was his first festival, like he just couldn’t believe his luck. He was so excited to get on that stage and always felt so privileged.

It’s a tribute to him that he sat down behind one of the greatest drummers of all time in Dave Grohl – and made that place in the Foo Fighters his own. He was such a big presence.

Chatting with Taylor, he was absolutely open and receptive. I have such fond memories of him. I just want to say thank you, Taylor, for all the inspiration. Drummers around the world are at a loss. It’s an unbelievable tragedy.

Read the full Taylor Hawkins tribute in our latest issue.