Oliver Taylor Hawkins (born February 17, 1972) was an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters.
Prior to joining the band in 1997, he was the touring drummer for Alanis Morissette on her Jagged Little Pill and Can’t Not Tour, as well as the drummer in a progressive experimental band called Sylvia.
His cousin, Kevin Harrell, introduced him to Dave Grohl after camping with him for several weeks in the Ozarks.
Hawkins would eventually become the drummer for Grohl’s band, Foo Fighters.
He was voted “Best Rock Drummer” in 2005 by the UK drumming magazine Rhythm.
In 2004, Hawkins formed his own side project, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, in which he played drums and sang.
On March 25, 2022, the Foo Fighters official social media accounts announced that Hawkins had died at 50.
The cause is currently unconfirmed. The band was on tour in South America at the time of the announcement and was scheduled to perform at the Estéreo Picnic Festival in Bogotá, Colombia, that night.
