Pearl Jam play a touching tribute to Taylor Hawkins on opening night of their tour

Virgin Radio

5 May 2022, 12:46

Pearl Jam have paid a tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins on the opening night of their Gigaton tour in North America this week.

Frontman Eddie Vedder honoured the musician and his friendship with their own drummer Matt Cameron before performing Quick Escape at San Diageo’s Viegas Arena on Tuesday (3 May).

The singer told the audience: “[Hawkins] emitted something very incredible and very special.

“We’re all missing him, and so, Matt, I’m sorry again for your loss. But it just gives us another chance to say how much we appreciate you as well.”

Cameron and Hawkins both took part in a tribute concert for the late Soundgarden frontman, Chris Cornell, in 2019 and ended up forming the band Nighttime Boogie Association a year later.

The pair also performed a cover of Queen’s Keep Yourself Alive with Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro at Vedder’s Ohana festival last October.

Hawkins sadly passed away in March this year at the age of 50 while on tour with the Foo Fighters in Colombia.

Pearl Jam is the latest in a long list of people from the music industry that have paid tribute to the legendary drummer.

At the beginning of the month, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith said the band would be honouring Hawkins during their show at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Speaking to Billboard, he said: “We’re taking his wife, Alison, with us and it’s going to be a celebration.

“She doesn’t want it to be anything other than, ‘Let’s celebrate music, let’s celebrate our friends, let’s celebrate Taylor. This is what he would want and he would be very happy that you guys are playing and he would want it [to] be nothing but a positive experience’.”

Earlier in the year, Blink 182's Travis Barker got a tattoo in memory of Hawkins. Taking to Instagram, Travis let fans into his latest tribute to his good friend, which involved getting a new tattoo of a hawk at the top of his foot. 

Virgin Radio also paid a tribute to the legendary drummer last month with a special hour-long show on 24 April featuring exclusive excerpts from Hawkins’ interview with us in 2017, along with contributions from Police drummer Stewart Copeland and Genesis drummer and son of Phil, Nick Collins.