Dave Grohl choked back tears as the Foo Fighters paid tribute to late drummer Taylor Hawkins.
The 53-year-old rocker became emotional at Wembley Stadium on Saturday (03.09.22) while singing ‘Times Like These’ as the band played their first gig since Taylor passed away at the age of 50 in March.
The star-studded six-hour concert featured appearances from Sir Paul McCartney, Queen, AC/DC and Liam Gallagher and Grohl paid a poignant tribute to his “bandmate” and “brother” at the start of the show.
The musician said of Taylor: “For those of you who knew him personally, you know that no one else can make you smile, or laugh or dance, or sing like he could, and for those of you that admired from afar, I’m sure you’ve all felt the same thing.”
Dave explained that Taylor’s love for music helped create the extraordinary line-up for the concert – which also featured video tributes from Sir Elton John and Stevie Nicks and appearances from the likes of Nile Rodgers and Chrissie Hynde.
He told the crowd: “When we first started talking about putting something together for Taylor, we sat down and we said even if it’s his closet friends, that’s like 100 f****** musicians.
“Because Taylor loved to jam and record with anybody and everybody. He loved to play music every day. And there aren’t too many people that he’s never jammed with.
“So this collection of friends and family and musicians, this is all brought together by him and we’re all connected here today by that one guy.
“Bringing musicians that have never met, musicians that have never played together, all in one place, all at one time, with all you beautiful people to make f****** noise for Taylor Hawkins.”
Several musicians filled in for Taylor on the drums, including a poignant appearance from his 16-year-old son Shane who performed ‘My Hero’ with the Foo Fighters.