Guns N’ Roses dedicated their European tour, which wrapped last night (July 15) in Germany, to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Axl Rose unveiled the tribute in a statement via Twitter where the singer said, in part, “It’s just a simple gesture and it’s awkward dealing with the gravity of something like this, but in an effort to pay our respects, we’d like to dedicate this tour to our friend, Taylor Hawkins. Taylor was a really great guy, and it was always great to see him! He was a great and always welcome part of touring these last few years. This is such a horrible thing and our hearts go out to his family, friends, bandmates and everyone who loves him.”
— Axl Rose (@axlrose) July 16, 2022
Rose opened his statement saying, “I’d like to thank everyone that came out to our shows in Europe!! You were AMAZING!! We hope you had fun and hope to see you again sooner than later!! I also want to thank everyone in London for being so understanding of our challenges and apologize again to our fans in Scotland for having to postpone our performance there. Rescheduling or being forced to cancel aren’t things that are done lightly especially with our fans, the size of the endeavor and everyone from the fans, the cities, the venues, the promoters, the crews and everyone involved taken very seriously into consideration.”
Rose acknowledged country superstar Carrie Underwood, who appeared at GN’R’s two shows in London, saying, “I’d like to thank Carrie Underwood and her team for coming all the way to the UK for our shows at Tottingham!! YEAH!! She’s AMAZING!! AND in this case a REAL lifesaver!! At least someone could sing!!”
Rose would conclude his statement saying, “I’d also like to thank everyone for showing such love and support during the tour for the people of Ukraine and their noble and horrifying fight for freedom against an increasingly totalitarian regime ran by a callous, lying, murderous, little man with outdated ambitions and no regard for human life. Looking forward to seeing everyone in South America!! See you SOON!!”