Dave Grohl, Miley Cyrus and Travis Barker perform at Taylor Hawkins tribute
‘This is the hometown s***, so you gotta make it loud for Taylor’ Grohl said during the concert
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Your support makes all the difference.Dave Grohl, Travis Barker, and Miley Cyrus were some of the artists who performed at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in Los Angeles on Tuesday 27 September.
The show, which was held at the Kia Forum, kickstarted with Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter Violet performing a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” along with guitarist Alain Johannes.
After that, Foo Fighters took over the stage, announcing: “Welcome to the Los Angeles Taylor Hawkins tribute concert.
“This is the hometown s***, so you gotta make it loud for Taylor.”
Grohl said that the idea of the concert is to “spend some time in [Hawkins’s] musical mind, which could be a pretty terrifying place” and to “celebrate this person that has touched our lives.”
The show continued with performances by Joan Jett, Chevy Metal, Kesha, Coattail Riders, Mark King, Rufus Taylor, Joe Walsh and the James Gang, Cyrus, Mötley Crüe, and Def Leppard among others.
Jett sang the Runaways’s “Cherry Bomb” as she was backed by Foo Fighters and Barker.
Her performance followed Chevy Metal, who was introduced on stage by Hawkins’s 16-year-old son Shane. “I’m really nervous,” Shane says, calling the group “one of the best f***ing cover bands I’ve ever heard in my life.”
They played a rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.”
Soon after that, Kesha appeared on stage in a silver cape, singing David Bowie’s “Heroes”, while Josh Homme, Grohl, Alain Johannes and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones performed Elton John’s hit track “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”
Towards the end of the event, Cyrus joined Def Lep’s Joe Elliott for a performance of “Photograph”, followed by Mötley Crüe.
“You can’t really play a gig in Los Angeles without having these guys come jam with you,” Gohl said of the American heavy metal band.
Funds from concert tickets and merchandise sales will go to the Music Support and MusiCares charities, which were selected by the Hawkins family, who have helped organise the event.
This concert comes after Grohl paid tribute to his “bandmate” and “brother” Hawkins at a special concert at London’s Wembley Stadium on 3 September.
Thousands of fans roared as Grohl asked them to “sing and dance, and laugh and cry” in honour of the band’s drummer Hawkins, who was found dead in his hotel room in Colombia in March.
Hawkins played in the band fronted by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl for more than two decades, alongside Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee.
He joined Foo Fighters in 1997 after previously touring with Alanis Morissette. Hawkins also starred with the band in their recently released film, Studio 666.
Following his death in March, the band cancelled their forthcoming tour dates as well as a planned performance at the Grammys.
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