Thousands packed into London’s Wembley Stadium on September 3 for a night of rock-and-roll in tribute to Foo Fighters’ late drummer, Taylor Hawkins. This star-studded night featured the likes of Paul McCartney, Liam Gallagher, Brian May and Rodger Taylor of Queen and many more who made up an epic night.
The show marked the first of two tribute concerts for Hawkins. Kicking off the show was Gallagher who played two of Oasis’ songs, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” and the ever-so-fitting “Live Forever.” Later, Hawkins’ brother Justin Hawkins joined forces with Josh Freese and The Coattail Riders — a group that Taylor Hawkins had formed — for renditions of “Louise,” “It’s Over” and one of Taylor Hawkins’ solo songs, “Range Rover Bitch.”
Justin wouldn’t be the only member of the Hawkins family to take the stage. Taylor’s 16-year-old son Shane Hawkins joined Foo Fighters for the penultimate song of the entire concert and an epic rendition of their hit, “My Hero.”
Them Crooked Vultures, a group that included Foo FIghters’ Dave Grohl, reunited for the first time in 12 years to perform covers of Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and Queens of the Stone Age’s “Long Slow Goodbye” along with a rendition of their own song, “Gunman.”
A little later in the show, Queen’s Brain May and Roger Taylor (along with his son Rufus Taylor, who also joined the band for "Best of You") took the stage with the Foo Fighters for the longest set that wasn’t a part of Foo Fighters’ solo set. Queen hits including “We Will Rock You,” “I’m in Love With My Car,” “Under Pressure” (a song that Hawkins would occasionally cover during Foo Fighters concerts), “Somebody to Love” and Love of My Life” were played while bringing guests onto the stage including Luke Spiller, Justin Hawkins and Sam Ryder.
Right before Foo Fighters took the stage to close out the show, McCartney — who Grohl recently appeared on-stage with at Glastonbury — came out to perform with a little help from some friends including Foo Fighters' Grohl and Pat Smear and drummer Omar Hakim. McCartney would perform the first-ever live rendition of The Beatles’ “Oh! Darling” off of Abbey Road. While “Oh! Darling” is certainly one of McCartney’s most vocally-challenging songs, Chrissie Hynde was there to relieve him of those pesky high notes. McCartney finished off his night by playing another Beatles tune, “Helter Skelter.”
The first Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert is available to stream partially on Paramount+ now and will be available to stream on-demand via Pluto TV and MTV TV VOD beginning the week of September 5. Performances from the concert can also be found on YouTube.
The final Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert is taking place later this month on September 27 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. While there are some returning acts, new ones including Miley Cyrus, Pink and Joan Jett, among others, will make for another epic tribute to the late drummer. Proceeds from the concerts will benefit MusiCares.
For more information about the Los Angeles Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert including the lineup, ticket and streaming information, check out the official website. Check out Shane Hawkins' performance of "My Hero" with Foo Fighters below: