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Esquire

The Grammys Paid Understated, Emotional Tribute to Taylor Hawkins

Madison Vain
2 min read

Nine days after Taylor Hawkins's death shocked music fans around the world, the Grammys paid tribute to the Foo Fighters drummer during the Sunday night broadcast. Rumors swirled in the days leading up to music's biggest night regarding who would take the stage to honor the 50-year-old who died on Friday, March 25 while on tour in Bogotá, Colombia. But no artist arrived. Instead, the show relied on past concert footage and old interview clips of the charismatic musician, played before the In Memoriam segment.

"This was the moment in the show when I was supposed to be introducing the Foo Fighters," host Trevor Noah said as the clock hit the 10:30 p.m. ET mark. "We would have been celebrating with them as they won three Grammy awards earlier today." Noah offered his condolences to the drummer's family and friends as well as the Foos community. "We'd like to take a moment now to remember Taylor," he added, simply, before the footage rolled.

The choice felt appropriate, and emotional. Elsewhere during the broadcast, little tributes arrived, like when Billie Eilish donned a Taylor Hawkins T-shirt during her performance.

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The Foo Fighters didn't attend the Sunday night show. The group pulled out of their slated performance last week, canceling all future scheduled tour dates as well. "We’re sorry for and share in the disappointment that we won’t be seeing one another as planned," they said via a statement. "Instead, let’s take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we’ve made together."

Grohl and co. made history all the same. In winning three awards Sunday night, they became the most decorated American rock band in Grammys history.

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