It’s been two months since he called Casa Medina, a Four Seasons property in the Bogota area of Colombia called Chapinero. It was 7:40 p.m. on Friday, March 25, and a guest was complaining of severe chest pain. But when EMS officials showed up, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was gone.
Since then, fans have been kept in the dark. What was the cause of death? Where was the official toxicology report? What did the autopsy say? When and where was the funeral? Why is there complete radio silence from the band? And how is it possible that information has not leaked?
The blackout in the news of Taylor’s death is airtight. So far.
A Rolling Stone story entitled “Inside Taylor Hawkins’ Final Days as a Foo Fighter” was published online late Monday night (May 16th). About 20 people close to Taylor were interviewed (including Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, RHCP’s Chad Smith and Taylor’s drummer, Chad Yeti Ward), and they helped shed light on Taylor’s physical and mental health by tonight. in Bogota.
The article is a must-read, and although some of the details and statements made have been met with either denial or no comment from Foos, it can fill in some important gaps. (For background, you can read what I wrote about Taylor’s death here and here.) I should also mention that Rolling Stone’s article confirms several things I’ve heard on various backdoor channels.
Let’s take things one by one.
Taylor’s drug use
After falling into a two-week coma after OD in 2001, Taylor claims to have gone straight. People close to him say he has thrown his energy into mountain biking and other fitness activities. And the heavy drugs on the day of the show? never.
But what about the scandalous toxicology report?
This is a preliminary report from Colombia, issued about 24 hours after his death. And yes, he lists ten different substances apparently found in his system, including marijuana, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants and benzodiazepines through a urine sample, not a complete blood count. Even today, however, there has never been an official report from the United States confirming this, nor do we know the actual concentrations and combinations of these drugs. (One of my sources says that the family disputes this toxicological report.)
Okay, so why are there any drugs in his system?
Opioids could be prescribed as a painkiller. Rolling Stone says the severity of playing drums for three hours a night in a band as intense as Foo Fighters has affected Taylor’s body. quote: “[Taylor was] “I’m trying very hard to figure out how to keep the intensity of a young man in the body of a 50-year-old, which is very difficult.”
Benzoins and antidepressants may be associated with Taylor’s chronic stage fever. You’ll never know how to watch Foos perform, but Taylor obviously had serious problems with the certainty that he wasn’t good enough to be in a band like Foos. The article says that Taylor felt as if he were in hell.
The “powdered” substances allegedly found in his hotel room? Rolling Stone says there was definitely no cocaine. And any addict will tell you that there’s no way to shoot yourself on the day of the show, especially if you’re going to play as hard as Taylor.
I quote: “Taylor has never played a fuck in his life. He always played as sober as he could. It was a show day. So to say that he used drugs that day is the most false thing anyone could ever say about him.
Overdose? no. Not likely at all. In fact, I would turn it off completely.
What about his dilated heart?
When he died, a preliminary report said his heart weighed 600 grams, twice the weight of a man his age and size. As I said, Taylor became a fitness fanatic after his heroin “extended nap” (in his words) in 2001. And as any drummer will tell you, playing night after night is a physical exercise similar to running a marathon. Taylor and his doctor knew about his “runner’s heart” (his doctor’s words) long before he died. It is also possible to have a heart collapse without the medication being the trigger. After an incident last December (see below), Taylor calmed down on mountain biking to give his heart a break.
So to all the antivaxers who say that his enlarged heart is a side effect of the COVID vaccine, get lost. His heart was that big long before the pandemic.
Taylor was also known to suffer from sleep apnea, which, if left untreated, can lead to other health problems.
Was Taylor the one who forced the Foo Fighters to cancel their participation in F1 last December?
Obviously. If you remember the story, Foos had to play a concert after the last F1 race of the season in Abu Dhabi last December 12. The group flew privately from Los Angeles to Chicago, where they had to connect with a scheduled Etihad flight to the Middle East. However, the concert was canceled when an unnamed member of the group was taken to a hospital in Chicago. (This confirms what I heard from one of my sources.)
According to Rolling Stone, this member is Taylor. He lost consciousness on a private jet and was rushed to hospital on landing.
I quote Chad Smith: “He just said he was exhausted and fainted, and they had to pump him full of IV and others. He was dehydrated and all sorts of things. ” The details of the collapse are not yet known.
Management says, “That’s not true.”
Taylor was exhausted
After the fear in Chicago, Rolling Stone claims that he had a “heart to heart” with the leadership of Dave and Foos, saying that he could not stand it anymore and that they had to invent something. He was genuinely worried that he would not be able to handle all the rescheduled dates after Covid that Foos had on the planet. (Foos management says there was no “heart to heart.”)
I quote: “He tried to cope,” [Matt] Cameron says. “He just did everything he could to do it, and in the end he couldn’t do it.
I quote the Yeti: “He looked anorexic there for a while. Just before they left for South America [this year] he told me, “Man, Yeti, you will be so proud of me. I have a coach. I do things right. I have already gained 15 kilograms. I’m putting things back. He’s definitely been stressed over the last few years because he’s definitely showing off his weight. “
Chad Smith: “Over the last few months, he’s started lifting weights and drinking these electrolytes, and he’s really trying to do things to help him play at the level he wants to play.”
The bottom line is that we still don’t know why Taylor died. But if this information is true, some of the misinformation that is circulating may be revealed and speculation debunked.
Again, you should read the whole article in Rolling Stone. Now that the information is leaking, there will certainly be more, as the taboo on reporting this story has been broken. We can discuss privacy and the wishes of the family of Taylor and the rest of the Foo Fighters, but soon everything may be in dispute.
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