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The Foo Fighters said goodbye to their late drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in March, in epic fashion. The band headlined the star-studded “Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert” at Wembley Stadium this weekend, a more than five-hour show, featuring such big-name guests as Queen, the members of AC/DC, Rush, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and many, many more, including a surprise appearance by Sir Paul McCartney.
While there were plenty of highlights of the night, the two most emotional moments came from Foo front man Dave Grohl, and Taylor’s son, Shane Hawkins.
For Dave, who was on stage for most of the evening, the weight of his loss really got to him as he got choked up and could be seen visibly crying while performing “Times Like These.” Equally emotional was Shane’s appearance, taking his father’s place behind the drumkit for the Foo classic “Hero.” The night ended with a solo Dave performing the Foo classic “Everlong.”
- Early in the show, Dave called Taylor a "dear friend, bandmate and brother,” adding, "no-one else could make you smile or laugh or dance or sing like he could." He noted, "And for those of you that admired him from afar, I'm sure you've all felt the same thing. So sing and dance and laugh and cry and scream and make some noise so he can hear us right now."
Other highlights included:
- Paul McCartney was a surprise addition, performing The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” and collaborating with Hynde on the song “Oh! Darling," which he said was "A song I haven't performed since we recorded it 100 years ago.”
- Wolfgang Van Halen actually played guitar on two Van Halen songs, “Hot For Teacher” and “On Fire,” with Justin Hawkins singing.
- Them Crooked Vultures reunited to perform three songs, Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” their own tune "Gunman,” and the Queens of the Stone Age track “Long Slow Goodbye.”
- AC/DC’s Brian Johnson teamed with Lars Ulrich and the Foo Fighters for “Back in Black” and “Let There Be Rock.”
- The surviving members of Rush, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, performed Rush’s “2112 Part 1: Overture,” “Working Man,” and “XYZ.”
- The members of Queen performed “We Will Rock You,” I’m In Love With My Car” and “Somebody To Love.”
- A second Taylor Hawkins tribute concert is set to go down September 27th in Los Angeles. (click here for the full set list, Check out some clips to the right)
Read the full story at BBC