Perry Farrell + Family Honor Taylor Hawkins, Share His Final Voicemail to Them
On Sunday (March 27), Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell and his wife, Etty Lau Farrell, shared a stirring tribute to their late friend and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins after Hawkins' unexpected death at age 50 last Friday (March 25).
The Farrells were close with Hawkins. Earlier this month, Perry joined Foo Fighters onstage to perform the Jane's Addiction classic "Been Caught Stealing" with the Dave Grohl-led rockers (via Louder). Hawkins was a longtime fan of Jane's and had modeled his early playing style after their drummer, Stephen Perkins.
See the Farrells' video near the bottom of this post.
Addressing the camera in the clip filmed on Saturday (March 26), Perry says (as transcribed by Loudwire.com), "Taylor Hawkins died yesterday. He was my best friend. Beloved in my home by my wife, my children, even my dogs. And whenever Taylor came over, we would make music in the den. [My dog] Cloud would always go and sit right by him. He was one of the most passionate drummers I've ever seen in my life."
The Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros mastermind continues, "When I think of him, I sum it up with one word — velocity. He had the gift to maintain a confident striking and stroking velocity on drums. There's a large part of my heart that I had reserved for him. I accepted him into my heart when we became friends, because he was such a pure guy. So pure of heart."
Near the end of the five-minute tribute, a video of Perry and and Hawkins singing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" with a street pianist is shown. Afterward, Etty Lau addresses viewers and plays a recording of what she says was Hawkins' last phone message to them left by the drummer on her voicemail.
"Take care of each other," Hawkins is heard saying in the recording. "And I'll take care of me. And I will see you guys in São Paulo. I love, love, love, love you guys. Sleep tight." (Foo Fighters were due to play with Jane's at Lollapalooza Brazil in São Paulo this past weekend.)
The Farrells weren't alone in their tribute. Memorials from across music showed Hawkins' importance to rock. Even U.S. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden saluted the drummer. Looking back on Dave Grohl's past words about Hawkins, the Foo Fighters leader once said it was "love at first sight" when he met the musician.
But Hawkins wasn't just a Foo Fighter. Before his Foos career, he played drums with Alanis Morissette and Sass Jordan, among others. Later, he led Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders, Chevy Metal, The Birds of Satan, and he co-founded the supergroup NHC with Jane's members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney.
The cause of Hawkins' death is being determined after he was found dead in his hotel room in Bogota, Colombia, on Friday, just before the Foos were to play the city's Festival Estereo Picnic. A preliminary toxicology report showed Hawkins had 10 different substances in his system at the time of his death.