Oliver Taylor Hawkins (February 17, 1972 – March 25, 2022) was an American musician who was the drummer and a vocalist of the rock band Foo Fighters, sharing vocals with Dave Grohl.

[3] He formed the supergroup NHC with Jane's Addiction members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney in 2020, where he also took on lead vocal and drumming duties.

[12] After touring through the spring of 1996, Foo Fighters entered a Seattle studio with producer Gil Norton to record their second album.

[16] Grohl was under the impression that Hawkins would not want to leave Morissette's touring band, given she was a bigger act than Foo Fighters at the time.

[17] Hawkins first appeared with the Foo Fighters in the music video for the 1997 single "Monkey Wrench", although the song was recorded before he joined the band.

[23] He also contributed to the band's songwriting, and was listed as a co-writer on at least one song on every Foo Fighters album from There Is Nothing Left to Lose to Medicine at Midnight.

[28] Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders subsequently released two more studio albums: Red Light Fever in 2010, and Get the Money in 2019.

At Live Earth in 2007, Hawkins was part of SOS Allstars with Roger Taylor of Queen and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Hawkins can also be heard drumming on Eric Avery's (formerly of Jane's Addiction) first solo effort, Help Wanted and on Kerry Ellis's album, Wicked in Rock.

Hawkins and Grohl split drumming duties on Harmony & Dissidence, the third album by Foo Fighters bandmate Chris Shiflett's own side project, Jackson United.

[33] Hawkins was commissioned to complete an unfinished recording of a song by Beach Boys' drummer Dennis Wilson titled "Holy Man" by writing and singing new lyrics.

[43] Other musicians who appeared on his projects included Roger Taylor, Brian May, Dave Grohl, Nancy Wilson, Joe Walsh, Chrissie Hynde, and many more.

[45] In 2021, Hawkins and Jane's Addiction members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney formed a supergroup called NHC.

[4] Described by Hawkins as being "somewhere between Rush and the Faces", the band made its live debut in September 2021 at Eddie Vedder's Ohana festival, with Taylor's Foo Fighters bandmate Pat Smear on additional guitar.

Hawkins said that his drumming was chiefly influenced by classic rock drummers, including Phil Collins of Genesis;[47] Stewart Copeland of the Police,[47] whom he idolized and eventually befriended;[48] Budgie of Siouxsie and the Banshees;[49] Roger Taylor of Queen;[47] Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction;[47] Jim Gordon of Derek and the Dominos;[47] Neil Peart of Rush;[50] Alex Van Halen of Van Halen;[51][52] and John Bonham from Led Zeppelin.

[61] He also revealed in the 2011 documentary Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, that he wrote the song "On the Mend" from the band's 2005 album In Your Honor about Hawkins while he was in a coma.

After Hawkins complained of chest pains, emergency services were called up to his room at the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel.

[66] Health personnel arrived and found Hawkins unresponsive; they performed CPR, but he was declared dead at the scene, aged 50.

[70][71] The following day, Colombian authorities announced that a preliminary urine toxicology test indicated that Hawkins had 10 substances in his system at the time of his death, including opioids, benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants, and THC.

[72] A May 2022 article from Andy Greene and Kory Grow in Rolling Stone made the case that Hawkins was suffering from extreme exhaustion in the period leading up to his death, and allegedly asked that no more dates be added to the scheduled tour.

[76] Noting that official autopsy results had not, at that time, been made public, the Green–Grow article went on to state that "his friends believe[d] he wasn't using hard drugs recreationally at the time of his death" and that the post-mortem forensics performed indicated that the mass of Hawkins' heart was "about double... normal size", raising the possibility that "it could have collapsed" apart from any contribution of drugs in his system.

"[75][needs update] The Foo Fighters announced the death of Hawkins in a Twitter statement on March 25, writing that "His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever.

[77] On the night of his death, Hawkins was scheduled to perform with the Foo Fighters at the Estéreo Picnic Festival in Bogotá as part of their ongoing South American tour.

The Foo Fighters were joined by Travis Barker, Nandi Bushell, Martin Chambers, Chris Chaney, Dave Chappelle, Stewart Copeland, Josh Freese, Liam Gallagher, Omar Hakim, Justin Hawkins, Joshua Homme, Chrissie Hynde, the James Gang, Alain Johannes, Brian Johnson, John Paul Jones, Greg Kurstin, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Brian May, Paul McCartney, Chris Rock, Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson, Sam Ryder, Luke Spiller, Supergrass, Roger Taylor, Rufus Taylor, Lars Ulrich, and Wolfgang Van Halen, plus members of Hawkins's cover band, Chevy Metal.

[85] The second tribute concert, at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, took place on September 27, 2022, and featured Hawkins' bandmates as well as numerous guest artists.

Also appearing were Jack Black, Geezer Butler, Danny Carey, Phil Collen, Miley Cyrus, Joe Elliott, Joan Jett, Mark King, Tommy Lee, Taylor Momsen, Alanis Morissette, Pink, Nikki Sixx, Chad Smith, Jon Theodore, Brad Wilk, Nancy Wilson, and Patrick Wilson.