Drummer Rufus Taylor Talks Backing Foo Fighters At Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts

The Darkness drummer Rufus Taylor was among those who participated in the all-star Taylor Hawkins tributes held on September 3, 2022 in London and on September 27, 2022 in Los Angeles. The son of Queen drummer Roger Taylor spoke about his experience at the high-profile gigs, which included performing with Foo Fighters, in a new interview.

Rufus forged a tight bond with late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who tragically died last March at age 50 and considered him a mentor. “I think I was six years old when I first met him. My dad introduced me to him as his close mate,” Rufus told Music Radar. “I was instantly just in love with the guy, I just thought he was the coolest person I’d ever met.”

“He was always really sweet to me,” Rufus added of Hawkins. “We just kind of clicked together immediately, and the more I grew up it was just strange how similar we were – a lot because I idolised him and everything – but we ended up like twins, in the end. “

Rufus Taylor joined Hawkins’ Foo Fighters bandmates for “These Days” and “Best Of You” in London. He reprised his performance on “Best Of You” with Dave Grohl and company a few weeks later in Los Angeles. “Well, These Days was fine. Best of You was scary because after the first stop, it’s just an unmapped freestyle kind of thing,” Rufus said of the gig at London’s Wembley Stadium. “I’m used to doing jams and stuff, but not when they’re built around a drum solo!”

The 31-year-old musician was anxious before the tributes. “I was shitting myself a little bit going into the rehearsals,” Rufus explained. “Because I knew that it was gonna be a room full of the best drummers in the world, like Omar Hakim, Dave, and Stewart fucking Copeland, all these monster players.”

“Obviously, I know Dave, but Stewart and Omar, all those guys – me and Taylor used to talk about them all the time. So now I suddenly have to go in and play a nine-minute solo in front of them!” Rufus revealed. “I still hadn’t mapped it out in my head. I didn’t know what was gonna happen. But it all kind of went really smooth in the end.”

Watch fan-shot video footage of Rufus Taylor performing “Best Of You” with Foo Fighters at Kia Arena in Los Angeles on September 27, 2022 below:

Foo Fighters recently announced they will move forward without Taylor Hawkins. The band has yet to reveal who will join them on drums.