Elton John on Taylor Hawkins: ‘One of the Greatest Drummers and a True Musician’

Elton John paid tribute to Taylor Hawkins Saturday night at his concert in Des Moines, Iowa, dedicating “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to the Foo Fighters drummer who died the night before at the age of 50.

“I got up this morning to see that Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters had passed away, and I was so shocked because he played on my Lockdown Sessions album and he was one of the nicest people you could ever meet,” John told the crowd.

“And one of the greatest drummers and a true musician who loved all sorts of music and loved life. And it seems so sad that at 50 years of age we’ve lost someone who had that much passion. And it makes me so downhearted for his family – his three children, his wife, his other relatives and, of course, the Foo Fighters, who’ve lost a dearest loved one that can never, ever be replaced.”

John joins the dozens of artists who have remembered Hawkins following his death Friday night in Bogota, Colombia. While musicians ranging from Rush, Stevie Nicks and Axl Rose to fellow drummers like Lars Ulrich and Ringo Starr honored him on social media, artists like Coldplay, Liam Gallagher — who dedicated Oasis’ “Live Forever” to Hawkins during a Saturday night concert — and John have paid tribute onstage.

“His music will on,” John added Saturday night. “But I can tell you, he was a great, great one.”