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Dave Grohl moved to tears remembering late Foo Fighters bandmate Taylor Hawkins at tribute concert: ‘We’re all connected here today by that one guy’-Kim Novak and Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
It was an emotional night.
Dave Grohl (left) remembered Taylor Hawkins (right) during the tribute show (Picture: Matt Baron/BEI/REX/Shutterstock)
Dave Grohl was moved to tears while speaking to the crowd at Wembley Stadium about Taylor Hawkins.
His former Foo Fighters’ band mate and best friend, who died suddenly at the age of 50 while on tour earlier this year, has received stellar support from some of the music industry’s biggest stars at Wembley’s Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert on Saturday.
At the start of the evening, Grohl told the sold-out crowd: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we’ve gathered here to celebrate the life, the music and the love of our dear friend, our bandmate, our brother, 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 him from afar, I’m sure you’ve all felt the same thing.
‘So tonight, we’ve gathered with family and his closest friends, his musical heroes, and greatest inspirations to bring you a gigantic f**king night for a gigantic f**king person.
‘Sing and dance, and laugh and cry and f**king scream and make some f**king noise so he could hear us right now, because you know it’s gonna be a long f**king night, right?’
Grohl came back on mid-way through the evening to pay tribute to Hawkins, but was moved to tears remembering his friend as so many people had turned out in support of the late drummer.
As he spoke of Hawkins ‘bringing people together who have never met, never played together’, referencing the packed line-up, the rocker became visibly overcome with emotion.
Taking a long pause before completing his sentence, and stepping away from the microphone, Grohl was cheered and supported by the crowd as he composed himself.
He told the crowd before introducing his daughter Violet Grohl and Mark Ronson to the stage: ‘When we first started talking about putting something together for Taylor, we sat down and we said even if it’s his closest friends, that’s like 100 f**king musicians.
A host of stars had joined the line-up to pay tribute to the much-loved drummer (Picture: Jerod Harris/Getty Images)
‘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, at one time, with all of you beautiful people to make f**king noise for Taylor Hawkins.’
Taylor Hawkins (second left) died aged 50 earlier in the year (Picture: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
Seemingly taken aback by his tears, the former Nirvana star said a quick ‘sorry’ before going on to finish his introduction.
Ronson then came onstage, beginning with a heartfelt tribute to his friend before playing guitar for an unplugged version of his and Amy Winehouse’s mega-hit Valerie, a cover of The Zutons’ original.
Leading on vocals was Violet Grohl, the Foos star’s 16-year-old daughter, who was back for her second song of the show.
Introduced by her dad, who gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek before she made her way down the stage and into the crowd, the singer gave an assured performance.
Musicians who have performed so far include Justin Hawkins, Liam Gallagher, Nile Rodgers, Supergrass, as well as members of Queens of the Stone Age and AC/DC.
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