Forever in his heart. Nearly four months after Taylor Hawkins tragically died, his eldest son, Oliver, played one of his father’s tracks during a 4th of July party.
“July 4 Thanks to the Laguna Beach community, police (for not shutting us down), @spliffriff_ and the @marcusskenderian family,” teenage musical group The Alive — who opened for the Foo Fighters at Lollapalooza Chile earlier this year — captioned Instagram footage on Friday, July 8, from their Monday, July 4, festivities. “Special thanks to @shane_hawkins_22 for sitting in💥.”
In the band’s social media footage, Oliver — who frequently goes by his middle name, Shane — drummed along to the group’s cover of the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” song. According to TikTok footage from the performance, Oliver had dedicated the number to his dad.
The Foo Fighters previously announced on March 25 that Taylor had died at the age of 50.
“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band — comprised of Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee — said in a joint Twitter statement at the time. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”
The late Texas native — who is survived by wife Alison Hawkins, son Oliver and daughters Annabelle and Everleigh — was on tour with the rock band in Bogotá, Colombia, at the time of his death.
“My deepest thanks and admiration go out to the global Foo Fighters community and Taylor’s fans far and wide for the outpouring of love each and every one of you have shown our beloved Taylor,” Alison, who married the late drummer in 2005, wrote as she broke her silence on his death via Instagram last month. “Your kindness has been an invaluable comfort [to] my family and me during this time of unimaginable grief. As Taylor’s wife, and on behalf of our children, I want to share how much you meant to him and how dedicated he was to ‘knocking your socks off’ during every performance.”
She continued in her emotional letter: “Taylor was honored to be a part of the Foo Fighters and valued his dream role in the band every minute of his 25 years with them. We considered every band member and the extended Foo Fighters team our family. … Taylor’s endearing spirit and deep love of music will live on forever through the collaborations he so enjoyed having with other musicians and the catalog of songs he contributed to and created.”
The Foo Fighters have since announced they will perform live for the first time since Taylor’s death, honoring their bandmate with two tribute concerts in September.
