Queen’s Brian May ‘So Frustrated’ by Taylor Hawkins’ Death
Queen guitarist Brian May recently shared his feelings about the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. May spoke about Hawkins during an interview with SiriusXM, saying he feels "so frustrated" by his passing.
“Taylor wasn’t even my generation," May says (via Variety). "I think of him as a boy — same as I saw George Michael as a boy — to lose them feels all wrong. It makes you feel so frustrated. It makes you feel like you want to negotiate with death... It makes you feel like if you looked at it enough, if you talk about it enough, if you analyse it enough then maybe you can bring him back. But of course, that’s just not the way it all works.”
Hawkins was an enormous Queen fan, and Foo Fighters regularly covered the band during their live performances. During the drummer's final show with Foo Fighters at Lollapalooza Argentina, Hawkins and Grohl swapped places —Grohl taking the kit and Hawkins providing lead vocals — for a cover of Queen's "Somebody To Love."
“Taylor was very close to [Queen], he’s been in my studio a few of times," May says. "In my life, I talk to him often. I talked to him just a week ago from when we lost him. We talk about stuff, talking about Dave [Grohl], about what life is like, his joys, frustrations, being in Foo Fighters.”
May also spoke about first meeting Hawkins and Pat Smear, calling them "the most informed Queen fans" and describing Hawkins as “the best publicist for Queen ever.”
“They knew more about us than we did,” May says. “He’s been so good for our image!” he adds. “Where he kind of regarded us as cool — which at the time a lot of people didn’t.”
Hawkins died on March 25 in Colombia. He was 50. Following the news of his passing, the band have cancelled all of their upcoming tour dates.