Rising up as a large Queen fan, Taylor Hawkins’ childhood desires got here true when he ultimately turned good associates with drummer Roger Taylor. However one other, surprising, friendship emerged when Hawkins met Roger’s son Rufus.
The 2 grew to turn into extraordinarily shut, with each Rufus and Hawkins usually referring to one another as “brothers,” and Rufus admitting in a number of interviews that he noticed Hawkins as a large affect on his personal drumming.
“[He was] my hero, my mentor, my huge brother,” Rufus informed MusicRadar in a 2023 interview, one 12 months after Hawkins’ dying. “I feel I used to be six years outdated once I first met him. My dad launched me to him as his shut mate. I used to be immediately simply in love with the man, I simply thought he was the best individual I’d ever met. He was all the time actually candy to me. We simply form of clicked collectively instantly, and the extra I grew up, it was simply unusual how related we have been — rather a lot as a result of I idolized him and every part — however we ended up like twins, ultimately.”
Talking about Rufus in a 2021 interview with Rhythm, Hawkins mentioned: “Rufus has all the time been like my little brother… And I’m so proud that I’ve been capable of play a component in his musical journey.”
When Hawkins handed away in 2022, Rufus was considered one of many musicians requested to carry out on the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Live shows in each London and Los Angeles. After the 2 exhibits – throughout which Rufus sat in with Foo Fighters for the songs “These Days” and “Better of You” – followers took to social media to reward Rufus’ performances, with many saying they suppose he could be the proper individual to interchange Hawkins.
Whereas Foo Fighters did ultimately rent Josh Freese as their new drummer, in a brand new interview with Traditional Rock, Rufus revealed that Dave Grohl and co. did really think about him for the position.
“Yeah,” he mentioned, confirming the rumors that his title was within the combine as a potential alternative. “It’s a bizarre factor. Taylor used to joke about it with me rather a lot: ‘It’s time, it’s essential take over from me now.’ However I feel it could have been too shut. I appear to be him – rather a lot like him – so it could have been bizarre for Dave [Grohl] and the band to show round and see that.”
Rufus, who has been drumming with the band The Darkness since 2015, says even his bandmates Justin Hawkins and Dan Hawkins (who declare to be distant cousins with Taylor Hawkins) inspired him to take the gig if it was provided to him. However Rufus insists that he’s dedicated to The Darkness.
“They each sat me down at one level and mentioned, ‘When Dave asks you, we predict you need to do it.’ I used to be like, ‘What?’ I used to be blown away by that. However I’d have by no means finished it,” he mentioned.
