Dave Grohl has opened up on the emotional toll of losing Foo Fighters drummer and best friend, Taylor Hawkins.
Speaking to Mojo ahead of the release of the rock outfit’s new album, Your Favorite Toy, Grohl discussed Hawkins’ passing.
“Losing Taylor was never meant to be,” he said. “That threw our world upside down and made me question everything about life, that it was so… It was so unfair. I still have a hard time making sense of it.”
He continued: “I think I was afraid of silence, afraid of having to feel. I could have used a bit more of the silence, a bit more of digging deeper. I never want to say music is a distraction, but I was definitely using it as a crutch for some broken limb.”
The band returned from hiatus in May 2023 with Josh Freese on drumming duties. However, after two years, Freese and the band parted ways. Grohl addressed the split in a February interview with Zane Lowe, confirming there was no bad blood. “We didn’t make a press release, tweet anything or do interviews,” he said. “[…] I think Josh said it best when he was like, you know, he didn’t feel our music really resonated with him, and that’s really important, right?”
Enter Ilan Rubin. The former Nine Inch Nails drummer was unleashed as the new man behind the kit at a surprise show in September 2025, where Grohl officially welcomed him as “the most badass motherfucker” playing drums for the Foo Fighters. This revitalised lineup is now gearing up for a new era, centred around their new LP, Your Favorite Toy, which is set to arrive on April 24th.
The band is set to circle the globe once more, with a US tour kicking off this year before they head to Australia and New Zealand. For Grohl, this new era comes with a changed perspective.
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“I’ve had to re-examine my ambition and intention,” he told Mojo. “[…] I was always the guy who couldn’t sit still… It was the silence – the still – that scared me… My horizon is much different. […] Before, I was running on fumes and unleaded gas. Now I’m just burning fucking diesel.”
