Red Hot Chili Peppers headlined the New Orleans Jazz Festival over the weekend, where they paid tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
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Red Hot Chili Peppers stepped in to replace Foo Fighters as headliners at the event after Hawkins tragically passed away on March 25th. As a result, the Foo Fighters cancelled all of their scheduled 2022 tour dates, including their set at New Orleans Jazz Festival.
During the Chili Peppers’ replacement set, they used a drum kit that had “Taylor” sprawled across it in white inside of an eagle. At the end of their set, drummer Chad Smith delivered an intimate speech, dedicating the performance to the renowned drummer.
The ‘Taylor’ on @ChiliPeppers drummer Chad Smith’s bass drum @jazzfest salutes @foofighters drummer Taylor Hawkins pic.twitter.com/p5rceRsJsm
— Keith Spera (@KeithSpera) May 1, 2022
“We just found out about this two weeks ago, because Foo Fighters were supposed to play here tonight,” Smith said in his New Orleans Jazz Festival speech. “We love Foo Fighters, and we love our brother Taylor Hawkins. This means a lot to us to be able to play for them. The guys in the band are here, they’re supporting. Taylor’s wife Alison and his whole family are here, we love them, we love Taylor.”
Smith then went on to get the entire crowd to chant “we love Taylor.”
Watch clips of the speech below.
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In an interview before their New Orleans Jazz Festival performance, Smith talked about the set.
“We’re taking Alison, his wife, with us and it’s going to be a celebration,” Smith told Billboard. “That’s what she wants. She doesn’t want it to be anything other than, ‘Let’s celebrate music, let’s celebrate our friends, let’s celebrate Taylor.”
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Taylor Hawkins’ son plays drums on moving performance of ‘My Hero’
