A year after drummer’s death, Foo Fighters are going on tour — including a stop in Utah

A year after the unexpected death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters have announced a slew of tour dates — including a stop in Utah. Outside of a pair of tribute shows for Hawkins, the tour marks the band’s first live shows since Hawkins’ death.

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• Following death of drummer, Foo Fighters cancel Utah show

Foo Fighters coming to Utah

On Tuesday, Foo Fighters added a handful of dates to its 2023 tour — including a stop at USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City on Aug. 8. The band was previously scheduled to perform on that date last year, but canceled all of the tour dates following Hawkins’ death, the Deseret News previously reported.

“We’re sorry for and share in the disappointment that we won’t be seeing one another as planned,” the band shared in a statement on social media at the time. “Instead, let’s take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we’ve made together.”

Taylor Hawkins’ death — a ‘tragic and untimely loss’

Hawkins, who had been with Foo Fighters since 1997, died on March 25, 2022, in Bogota, Colombia, where the band was scheduled to play, the Deseret News reported. A toxicology report shortly after his death revealed there were 10 types of substances in Hawkins’ body, including opioids, marijuana and anti-depressants, NPR reported.

In a statement to fans, Foo Fighters called Hawkins’ death at 50 a “tragic and untimely loss.”

“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever,” the band wrote.

Hawkins joined Foo Fighters three years after Dave Grohl formed the band, and previously told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that it took him a while to adjust and find his place considering Grohl’s history as the drummer for Nirvana.

“When you have a drummer like Taylor Hawkins in your band, I don’t necessarily miss being the drummer — because I have the greatest drummer in the world,” Grohl told CNN in 2014.

Who is replacing Taylor Hawkins?

At the end of last year, Foo Fighters announced its intention to keep the band going.

“Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were — and without Taylor, we know that we’re going to be a different band going forward,” Foo Fighters wrote in a statement on Dec. 31, 2022. “We also know that you, the fans, meant as much to Taylor as he meant to you. And we know that when we see you again — and we will soon — he’ll be there in spirit with all of us every night.”

The Foo Fighters have not announced who will replace Hawkins going forward. Some outlets have reported that Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron was a top contender for the upcoming tour dates, but Cameron recently shut those rumors down.

“FYI the internet rumours are false, I haven’t joined the Foos,” he wrote in an Instagram story on March 25, according to radiox.co.uk.

Former Angels & Airwaves drummer Atom Willard has also reportedly been a contender.

Foo Fighters was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. The band won big at the 2022 Grammys, winning all three of its Grammy nominations for best rock album, best rock song and best rock performance, per the Deseret News.