An official cause of death hasn’t yet been revealed
Publication date:
Mar 27, 2022 • 47 minutes ago • 4 minute read • 15 Comments

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According to an initial a toxicology report, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had multiple types of substances in his system at the time of his death.
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Hawkins, 50, was found dead in his hotel room in Bogota, Colombia, on Friday night, with the band just hours away from playing a concert in the city.
“The toxicology test on urine from Taylor Hawkins’ body preliminarily found 10 types of substances, including: THC, tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and opioids,” the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia shared on its Twitter account, per CNN.
With no official cause of death yet determined, the AGO went on to add that studies are ongoing “to completely clarify the cause of death for Taylor Hawkins.”

According to the DailyMail, citing Colombian news magazine Semana, Hawkins suffered a “cardiovascular collapse” after binging on a cocktail of drugs, including heroin. His heart was also said to have weighed double that of another man in his age range.
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This echoed a report from Saturday afternoon in which Colombian journalist Luis Carlos Velez tweeted that “Colombian authorities found: marijuana, antidepressants, opioids and heroin” in his hotel room.
A statement carried by several Colombian newspapers, and reprinted by the DailyMail on Saturday morning, said that “according to those close to him, the death could be related to the consumption of drugs.”
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“We have begun an investigation to establish the cause of death of the musician, but for now we don’t have any available information to share. As the investigation advances we will,” a source at the AGO, who was not authorized to speak to the press, told Reuters on Saturday.
Bogota’s health department said an ambulance was sent to the hotel members of the band were staying in after an emergency call reported a man experiencing chest pains. Hawkins did not respond to CPR and was declared dead, it added.
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The Foo Fighters, who were on tour in South America, confirmed news of Hawkins’ death late Friday on social media.
“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band shared on Instagram. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”
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Hawkins, who played with Sass Jordan early in his career was the touring drummer during Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill era, joined the Foo Fighters in 1997 during the recording of The Color and the Shape after the departure of William Goldsmith. He also fronted his own side project, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, formed The Birds of Satan and contributed to the Eagles of Death Metal. Recently he fronted NHC with Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney of Jane’s Addiction.
“The Alanis Morissette tour everybody thinks that was all sitting around, lighting candles and talking intelligently about synergy and big words,” Hawkins told the Sun in 2014. “That band was so gnarly. We were such scumbags. Alanis had no idea.”
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Like many other rock musicians, Hawkins struggled with drug abuse and suffered an overdose in London in 2001 that left him in a coma.
“Everyone has their own path, and I took it too far,” Hawkins told Kerrang! last year, adding that he once believed in the “myth of live hard and fast, die young.”
“I’m not here to preach about not doing drugs, because I loved doing drugs, but I just got out of control for a while and it almost got me.”
Last year, he told RollingStone he tried to lead “a really healthy lifestyle.”
“Listen, for anyone out there who has problems and their f—ing life is a mess, yeah, I get it. You know, my life has been there plenty of times, so I get it.”
In one of the last-known photos of Hawkins, which has since gone viral, the musician is seen smiling with nine-year-old Emma Sofia, a child drumming sensation who met her idol outside his Paraguay hotel last week.
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“We will remember him for his charisma and the beautiful gesture he had with Emma. Taylor gave us something to believe in. He was, is and always will be an inspiration,” Sofia’s family wrote in an Instagram post.
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Rock luminaries paid tribute to Hawkins as news of his death spread, with condolences coming from Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Morello, Smashing Pumpkins and more.
. @TaylorHawkins was truly a great person and an amazing musician. My heart, my love and my condolences go out to his wife, his children, his family, his band and his fans. See you on the other side – Ozzy
—Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) March 26, 2022
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In an interview with the Sun last month, founder member and vocalist Dave Grohl reflected on the longevity of the band, saying that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers were a success because they shared an unbreakable bond.
“In the Foo Fighters’ world, you don’t have to do anything. If you don’t want to do it, don’t f—ing do it. If you’re not into it, f—ing just say the word. That’s why we’ve lasted so long,” Grohl said. “Also, we genuinely love each other. There is bottom-line no question about that. We run not so much like a gang, but like af—ing family. It really is that way.”
Hawkins is survived by his wife, Alison, and their three children.
mdaniell@postmedia.com
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