On March 25, the world of music received one of its strongest and most serious blows. Taylor Hawkins, drummer for the rock band Foo Fighters, passed away just moments before performing in Bogotá. The news quickly invaded the media that, in the midst of the shock, announced what happened. According to what was recently detailed, the musician's body was already handed over to his relatives. Two days after his death, registered at the Hotel Casa Medina, Medicina Legal has already advanced that part of the process. It was understood that a private company was in charge of the repatriation of the body, but, before that, the death certificate granted by the Colombian entity was required.
It was Friday night when rumors began to circulate alerting the crowd that something bad was happening. It was initially commented that, for unknown reasons, the presentation of the band scheduled for the first day of the Estéreo Picnic Festival (FEP) was canceled. After that, that hallway commentary began to become bigger and mutated to become that the group would not give its concert in the country's capital for health reasons. It was only minutes later that the fateful news broke: Taylor Hawkins, recognized by many as one of the best drummers in history, had passed away.
The same band was responsible for informing their fans about the difficult moments they were experiencing. “With a broken heart we are here to tell you some very sad news, due to a very serious medical situation: Foo Fighters will not be able to show up tonight and has canceled the rest of their South American tour, the festival is still going on... this is a situation that is completely out of our hands. We are very sorry and we ask for a lot of understanding,” said the Picnic Stereo Festival in a statement reporting the regrettable news.
Infobae, present at the Briceño golf course where the three days of the FEP took place, was able to obtain testimonies from fans of the band who, moved to tears, were kept in a profound impact by the unexpected death of one of their greatest idols. This information portal met with followers who had traveled exclusively to see the band. While some came from Ecuador or Manizales, others were experiencing their first Estereo Picnic with the excitement of seeing the band led by vocalist, Dave Grohl. “I am 50 and this is my first EFF”, highlighted one of the posters of the group's followers.
It is noteworthy that, according to the national authorities, 10 types of psychoactive substances were found in the body of the 50-year-old musician. Initially, the drummer was seen by health specialists after he complained of acute chest pain. “The city's Urgent and Emergency Regulatory Center received a report about a patient with chest pain in a hotel located north of the city (...) the health professional who attended the emergency indicated that she performed the respective resuscitation maneuvers; however, there was no response and the patient declared deceased”, the mayor's office of Bogotá explained in a press release.
According to the director of La FM, Luis Carlos Vélez, official sources have confirmed that the American musician had been seen, for the last time, the day before his death. On Thursday afternoon, workers watched him up close when he asked for help in the lobby of Hotel Casa Medina, north of Bogotá, to be able to use Netflix. At that time, he was having a telephone conversation.
On Friday, finally, the last day of his life, he was found dead in the room in which he was staying. There the authorities found a can of beer, a bottle of vodka, a glass cup, a bottle of soda and 5 glass bottles. Also, according to Velez, a white powdery substance would have been found that would, in the words of one of the Bogotá Metropolitan Police officers who accessed the site of Hawkins' death, resemble cocaine.
Keep reading: