Well-Tuned: The Show Must Go On…Or Not

Taylor Hawkings playing a drum kit with “RIP Charlie” to mark the death of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Photo by Thomson202019, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Taylor Hawkins died the other day. His death was a shock to the entertainment world. Another rock star taken out by a possible overdose, joining over ninety-six thousand other poor souls who die annually the same way. Hawkins joins a long line of rockers that left this earth prematurely by their own hand, whether accidentally or intentionally.

It is sad to see an entertainer pass in such a way. To have the light they provided suddenly extinguished like a candle being blown out in a dark room can prove to be tough pill to swallow for everyone left behind. Family, friends, band mates, their fans; each individual dealing with the loss in their own way.

Looking back into the history of rock and roll you can see how bands dealt with the loss of one of the group. Some bands pushed on seeing different degrees of success, others called it quits.

Most notably was the recent passing of The Rolling Stones long time drummer, Charlie Watts. For fifty-eight years Watts was the drummer in the “World’s Greatest Rock-n-Roll Band.” Did The Stones quit? Nope. Apparently sixty years of performing all over the earth, making millions and millions of dollars is still not enough for the remaining members.

It was not the first time The Stones experienced death. Brian Jones who was the founder of the band, drowned in his pool less than a month after being dismissed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Jones was well known for his problems with drugs and alcohol. In a 1970 interview, Beatle John Lennon said “At first Brian was the most interesting Stone, but he was one of those guys that disintegrated right in front of you.” Jones’ substance abuse issues soon took over his musical talent and eventually his life.

Two years later to the day of Jones’ death, The Doors front man Jim Morrison passed away (or did he?). Morrison became a member of the infamous “twenty seven club” in 1971. After recording the album L.A. Woman, Morrison, who was dogged by legal issues relating to a notorious stage incident in Miami, left the country with his girlfriend Pamela Courson. She was the one who found Morrison dead three months later in the bathtub of the Paris flat they shared together. His health was failing leading up to his death due to heavy drinking and drug abuse. Courson would die four years later of a heroin overdose, also at the age of twenty seven. The Doors tried to make a go of it after Morrison’s death but would soon find out how important he was to the success of the band. The albums they released post Morrison are not as comparatively recognized as the ones that were recorded while he was alive. The band called it quits two years after Morrison’s death.

Arguably, one of the greatest American rock and roll bands ever lost its lead singer and two other band members in a plane crash back in 1977. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s front man Ronnie Van Zant along with Steve and Cassie Gaines died in the Mississippi plane crash that severely injured other members of the band. Skynyrd was at the top of their game at the time of the crash but following it, the family and remaining band members decided not to continue. Then in 1987, the band reformed with Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny at the helm. The only original member that stuck with the band was guitarist Gary Rossignton; all the way from the beginning in 1964 to its resurrection ten years after the crash. The band is still out there today preparing to tour.

Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, died of an overdose in 1978. He was notorious for his behavior on and off the stage and let the alcohol practically destroy his ability to play. The band reluctantly continued on after he passed. Years later, bassist John “Ox” Entwistle would end up dying in a hotel room after a night of debauchery, leaving Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey as the only living original members of the band behind. The two of them are still touring as The Who with replacements, most notably drummer Zac Starkey, son of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

Bon Scott was not the original vocalist for the band AC/DC but he was the voice that put them on the map. In 1979, their classic album Highway to Hell was unleashed and put the band on a trajectory to worldwide fame when less than a year later Scott died. “Death by misadventure” the coroner said. A nice way of saying he drank himself to death I suppose. The group carried on, hired Brian Johnson, recorded Back in Black soon after and continued on to become one of the greatest straight-up, no frills rock and roll bands out there.

In 1980, John Bonham (a.k.a Bonzo) drummer of my personal all-time favorite band Led Zeppelin, died after a full day and night of extremely heavy drinking. Bonzo, using his intensity and self-taught skills while behind his kit, drove Led Zeppelin’s thunderous sound that exploded onto the scene in 1969 and continued for ten more years with the release of the album In Through the Out Door. Bonham passed less than a year later. The remaining members of the band decided they could not go on without the heart of the band and let the world know in December 1980 press release that stated, “We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.” Signed Led Zeppelin.

On a side note. There is not a day that goes by that I do not listen to Zeppelin. Not one. When I am asked what band I wish I had gotten to see that is no longer out there it is a simple answer for me. Led Zeppelin. Period.

There were many rock bands that suffered similar losses as time went on. Many of them due to “misadventures” similar to Bon Scott, some by natural causes like Thin Lizzy’s lead singer and bass player Phil Lynott. He died in 1986 of pneumonia and heart failure. His drug and alcohol issues led to his poor health and his body just quit. His band mates continued touring off and on, formed other groups with new and old members, then reformed Thin Lizzy in 2021.

The nineties were particularly pernicious when it came to how many performers were lost due to drug overdoses and death. I touched last week on the shift from hair band glam excess to the flannel shirt wearing, brooding genre of Grunge. Performers like Andrew Wood, Shannon Hoon, Lane Staley, Bradley Nowell all flamed out early overdosing on drugs. Some of the ones who made it out of the nineties did not last too much longer like Scott Weiland and Chris Cornell (who I think had the best vocal talent of any grunge era band).

There was one particular guy who died that came from that genre in the nineties. The one who fronted the band that exposed the whole world to the Grunge sound by leveraging the power of the major record label they signed with in 1991. The album was Nevermind. The singer/guitar player was Kurt Cobain. His bandmates were bassist Krist Novoselic and for the first time, drummer Dave Grohl. Nirvana, love or hate them, put Grunge on the map. Cobain battled many demons in his life, health problems, drugs, depression. He eventually shot himself in 1994. It was a stunning event. I remember it well. While others from his generation had passed before him, none had died in such a manner as Cobain. He left many fans and most likely family and friends asking why and what could have been. In his suicide note he quoted Neil Young (who some say is the father of grunge) writing, “It’s better to burn out than fade away” which he borrowed from Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s song, Hey Hey, My My (Out Of The Blue).

 The death of Cobain also killed Nirvana. Novoselic and Grohl moved on. Grohl would eventually come out from behind his drum kit and form the wildly successful Foo Fighters. Pat Smear, who played with Nirvana while live joined him on occasion, eventually become a full time member. Drummer Tyler Hawkins signed on three years later, leaving his steady gig with Alanis Morrisette to do so. He was a dynamic drummer and like Grohl, did not just limit himself to the skins. You could say he was in the prime of his career when he died two weeks ago. He had just performed with the Foo Fighters in South America when at his hotel he complained of chest pains. By the time authorities arrived he was unresponsive. CPR was unsuccessful and like that, he was gone. His flame that once burned as bright and hot as the sun was summarily snuffed out like spent cigarette on city a sidewalk. While no official cause of death was given, toxicology reports came back that revealed 10 substances in his system when he died. Did he overdose? Was there something else? We may never know and frankly, it is none of our business anyway.

The Foo Fighters cancelled all scheduled shows and released a statement on Twitter that read “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins. 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.”

Will they go on without him? As you have just read, some have, some did not. Time will tell I suppose. Unfortunately for Dave Grohl, he has been down this well-worn path before, having to grieve for a close friend’s undue and unfortunate death. Grohl, who just happens to be the same age as me, was twenty-five years old when Cobain killed himself. When I was twenty-five I dealt with onerous issues like this much more differently than I do now as a middle-aged man. Today, Grohl has the same acumen that I do when it comes to these types of instances. Both of us, having lived over half of our lives now, have accrued the wisdom that comes with age to deal with the sometimes unpalatable decisions that you are forced to make in life.

Eventually, Dave Grohl will do what is best for Dave Grohl. When that time comes we as fans have to accept whatever that decision is. He has achieved more in his fifty-three years than most. He has given millions the gift of his talents that will endure long after he is gone. He will be remembered as being the drummer of a band that changed the face of rock forever. A man who persevered and then ended up eclipsing the accomplishments made by that band to build something even more successful, something that he can call his own. Does he have more to give us? I am sure of it. Does that mean he is coming back out with the Foo Fighters without Hawkins? Only he can answer that question.

I wish him luck and hope he lets his sagacity guide him through this inimical time.

Rest In Peace Taylor Hawkins, gone but not forgotten.

Till next time…

E Pluribus Unum