In tribute to Taylor Hawkins, who passed away suddenly at the age of 50, here is our original reporting of the Foo Fighters being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in October 2021.
Paul McCartney did the honors inducting the Foo Fighters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the 2021 class, and he did so by drawing parallels between himself and Dave Grohl.
Sir Paul touched on how both of them fell in love with rock and roll as kids and decided to make their living making music. Then both joined bands — The Beatles and Nirvana — that took over the world. Both of those bands would disband, and it led to both Macca and Grohl going off to make albums where they played all of the instruments.
“Do you think this guy is stalking me?” said McCartney, with a laugh.
McCartney said during his speech, “I feel super privileged to be here tonight to induct these guys,” and he would go on to say how he was backstage with the band and told them, “This is it! It’s not just any hall of fame; it’s the f—ing Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Foo Fighters took to the stage following a video package to perform “Best of You,” “My Hero” and “Everlong” and was easily the loudest set of the night.
Each Foo Fighters member made short remarks with all of them thanking their respective families. Notable remarks came from drummer Taylor Hawkins, who said, “I want to thank Paul McCartney. That was insane!” Hawkins would later shout out George Michael, Jane’s Addiction and Soundgarden as acts he’d like to eventually see inducted into the Rock Hall.
Pianist Rami Jaffe would say, “I’d like to thank five people and you’re looking at them right now. Make it six!” and then pointed to McCartney.
As for Grohl, he got a huge response from the sold-out crowd saying, “What’s up Ohio? I was born here!” but kept his remarks short and acknowledged the many members of the Foo Fighters family that have been with the band for decades.
After the Foos’ speeches, there was time for one more number, and it saw the newest members of the Rock Hall being joined by McCartney for a rollicking performance of the Beatles classic “Get Back.”
Before the performance, Grohl made sure to recognize Sir Paul noting that he never had any formal musical training and that everything he learned about music came via Beatles records and a Beatles songbook.
“Everything I learned about rock and roll, I learned from this man right here,” Grohl said while pointing to Macca, who clearly looked touched.
