From the moment their paths crossed, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl sensed that he and the late Taylor Hawkins would remain lifelong best friends.
The 57-year-old rocker has recalled how the Foos plucked Hawkins away from Alanis Morissette’s touring outfit after they formed an immediate bond, Hawkins passing away aged 50 in 2022 just hours before the Foo Fighters were due to perform in Colombia.
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Grohl explained that their debut record came out around the same time as Alanis’ first album. They were doing a string of festivals and radio appearances, and it was backstage on one of those occasions that he first met Hawkins.
He described meeting the newcomer as a moment of instant connection: a blond, surfer-type guy approaching with enthusiasm, saying, "Yo, dude. I love your band. You guys are so awesome. Yadda-yadda-yadda."
I knew, right then, I was like, "Oh, we’re gonna be best friends for the rest of our lives."
Taylor Morissette? No—Hawkins left Morissette’s band in March 1997 and joined the Foo Fighters in the same month, just as the rockers were putting the finishing touches on their acclaimed second album The Colour and the Shape.
Meanwhile, Grohl revealed earlier this year that he has been haunted by dreams in which Hawkins appears, along with ghosts of other loved ones including his Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain, his childhood friend Jimmy, and both of his parents.
He told the Guardian newspaper: "I have had these dreams that seem like visitations. Whether it’s from my mother, or my old friend Jimmy, or Kurt, or my father. And in the dreams, I know that I’m dreaming, but those people are here. And it’s as if they’ve never left."
Grohl described one particularly painful dream and broke down in tears as he recalled being reunited with Taylor.
He explained: "I fell asleep on a couch, like this one, in front of a television. I thought that I’d woken up, and he was sitting right next to me.
"It was so f** real. He was happy. His hair looked great; he was tan. The first thing I said was: ‘Oh my God, we miss you so much’. He smiled.
"Where are you?" And he smiled again and said: ‘Dude’.And I woke up. I was like: ‘***, I almost had it!’
