Brian May Reflects On Taylor Hawkins’ Death

Brian May Reflects On Taylor Hawkins’ Death | Society Of Rock Videos

Queen guitarist Brian May recently shared his feelings about the death of Taylor Hawkins during an interview with SiriusXM, he said (via Variety):

“Taylor wasn’t even my generation. I think of him as a boy — same as I saw George Michael as a boy — to lose them feels all wrong. It makes you feel so frustrated. It makes you feel like you want to negotiate with death… It makes you feel like if you looked at it enough, if you talk about it enough, if you analyse it enough then maybe you can bring him back. But of course, that’s just not the way it all works.

“Taylor was very close to [Queen], he’s been in my studio a few of times. In my life, I talk to him often. I talked to him just a week ago from when we lost him. We talk about stuff, talking about Dave [Grohl], about what life is like, his joys, frustrations, being in Foo Fighters.”

May also shared his first encounter with Hawkins and Pat Smear, calling them, “the most informed Queen fans” and describing Hawkins as “the best publicist for Queen ever.”

He added:

“They knew more about us than we did. He’s been so good for our image!

“Where he kind of regarded us as cool — which at the time a lot of people didn’t.”

It was no secret that the late drummer was a huge Queen fan. Hawkins would often cover their songs during Foo Fighters’ shows and even had a friendship with the members of Queen.

When the tragic news of Hawkins passing was announced, May was one of the people who expressed his reaction on social media as he wrote on Instagram:

“No. It cannot be. Heartbroken. Taylor, you were family to us. Our friend, our brother, our beloved child. Bless you. We will miss you so bad. Bri.”

Hawkins died March 25 at age 50, while Foo Fighters were on tour in South America. The band cancelled all their upcoming shows following Hawkins death.

The late drummer’s last show with his band was at the Lollapalooza Argentina on March 20. One of the highlights of the night is when Dave Grohl called Hawkins to take the mic and sing a cover of Queen’s “Somebody To Love,” while Grohl played the drums.

Watch the performance below.

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