Foo Fighters Cover Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’ With Taylor Hawkins Out Front
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins is no stranger to occasionally taking a break from the drum throne to sing lead on a tune with the Dave Grohl-led band, whether on a frequent live cover of Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” or the rare album cut.
But at the Foos’ first indoor concert since 2019 this week, which went down at the low-capacity Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, Calif., on June 15, Hawkins and the group switched it up slightly for his live vocal showcase. The drummer came out front to lead a version of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” instead.
Watch a fan-captured video of the performance down toward the bottom of this page.
The small-scale Foos show served as a warm-up performance for the band’s gig at New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 20, which, because of the lack of live events during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be the historic venue’s first concert in nearly 500 days.
A group of anti-vaccine protestors containing actor Rick Schroder picketed the Tuesday club show that was only admissible to those vaccinated against COVID-19. In a post ahead of the gig, Schroder called Grohl an “ignorant punk who needs [to be] slapped for supporting discrimination.”
Queen’s “Somebody to Love” is undoubtedly a familiar track for classic rock fans. The tune from the influential rockers’ 1976 album A Day at the Races was that effort’s first single, and to this day, the Freddie Mercury-penned song remains one of Queen’s signature ballads.
Foo Fighters’ latest album, the admittedly David Bowie-influenced Medicine at Midnight, came out in February. It contains the singles “Waiting on War,” “No Son of Mine” and “Shame Shame.” In October, the Foos will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its Class of 2021.