Foo Fighters are currently settled into a week long residency on Jimmy Kimmel Live, stepping onto the soundstage every evening. Between performances, Dave Grohl reflected on the mid nineties encounter that altered the course of his band for the next quarter century, looking back on how he first crossed paths with Taylor Hawkins while the drummer was still on the road with Alanis Morissette.
The two musicians ran into each other repeatedly during the alternative rock boom. Morissette was touring her first album at the exact time Foo Fighters were out supporting their self titled debut. Both acts found themselves booked onto the same radio shows and festival bills, spending hours in the same shared backstage corridors. Hawkins eventually walked right up to Grohl in one of those holding areas to say hello.
Grohl remembers a blond, surfer dude whose boundless energy immediately filled the room. Hawkins greeted him warmly and explained how much he loved Foo Fighters. Grohl felt an instant gut reaction, knowing right then and there that the two would become best friends for the rest of their lives.
Morissette could see the musical kinship developing just as clearly. Grohl recalled that she recognized how natural Hawkins would look in Foo Fighters, even asking her drummer what he planned to do whenever Grohl inevitably invited him to join. Hawkins stayed long enough to finish out Morissette's You Oughta Know tour, officially leaving her group in March 1997.
Hawkins joined Foo Fighters that same month. The band was already putting the final touches on their second record, The Colour And The Shape, so Hawkins did not play on that release. He soon stepped into the studio to lay down drum tracks for their 1999 follow up, There Is Nothing Left To Lose, kicking off a twenty five year run that spanned eight studio albums.
That era ended when Hawkins died unexpectedly in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2022 at the age of fifty, shortly before a scheduled concert. His loss brought the band to a complete halt and left Grohl questioning everything about life. Earlier this March, Foo Fighters marked three years since his passing by posting photos of Hawkins alongside a note saying they miss him every day. Tributes also surfaced from fellow rock drummers, including Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam and Rufus Taylor of The Darkness.
In the months after his death, Foo Fighters staged major tribute shows in Los Angeles and London, which Grohl called gigantic fucking nights for a gigantic fucking person. The six hour London concert marked the band's first public appearance following the tragedy. An extensive roster of guests joined them on stage, including Paul McCartney, Chrissie Hynde, Liam Gallagher, Brian May, and Roger Taylor. Hawkins' son Shane took the drum kit to play My Hero, while Grohl's daughter Violet also performed.
Adjustments behind the kit have continued since. A year after Hawkins passed away, Josh Freese stepped in as touring drummer, staying until an abrupt departure in May 2025 to reunite with Trent Reznor. Ilan Rubin then left Nine Inch Nails to take over drum duties for Foo Fighters. The band has kept releasing new music through the transition, delivering But Here We Are in 2023 and Your Favorite Toy in 2026.
Even with new records in hand and fresh personnel behind the drums, the spontaneous connection made in a backstage hallway decades ago remains the emotional core of the group. What began as a quick greeting between two touring musicians ended up defining Foo Fighters for an entire generation.
