How Taylor Hawkins got the call to join Foo Fighters

25 March 2024, 13:00

How Taylor Hawkins got the call to join Foo Fighters

The Foos drummer told Radio X about the "perfect day" he got the gig with Dave Grohl’s band, and what it had to do with the tacky 90s film Showgirls.

Being the drummer in a band fronted by ANOTHER drummer isn’t always the easiest gig - just ask Ringo Starr.

But for the late great Taylor Hawkins, getting the gig with Foo Fighters was a dream job. And the day he found out he’d passed the audition was a rather fond memory for the musician, who died aged 50 on 25th March 2022.

In 2017, Radio X’s Chris Moyles asked Taylor if he remembered getting the call from Dave Grohl.

Hawkins remembered the exact moment he heard the news - it was while getting an eyeful of a a trash movie classic from the 90s.

Hawkins told us: "I remember that I was watching Showgirls at the time, in my rented house up in Topanga Canyon. And Dave called to say, You wanna be in Foo Fighters?”

Grohl added: “Right in the middle of Showgirls! I’m sure he was like, sure… I’ll call you back!”

“I’ll forever in my mind have Showgirls and the phone call from Dave saying you’re in the Foo Fighters linked together,” laughed Taylor. “Which is amazing. It’s a perfect day.”

Hawkins was playing in Alanis Morissette’s band when William Goldsmith left the Foos just before the release of the album The Colour And The Shape in 1997.

Taylor heard the news on the radio and called the Nirvana legend to announce, “I hear you’re looking for a drummer”.

To his surprise, Grohl’s response was: “Yes, do you know any?”

Dave explained: “Taylor was playing with Alanis Morissette, who was selling out stadiums all over the world. I imagined that for him to play drums in the Foo Fighters would be considered a demotion.

“They’re playing stadiums all over the world, why the f**k would he wanna join our band - that was playing the Astoria on a Tuesday night?

“THAT’S why I asked… far be it for me that I would POACH someone else’s drummer.”