Red Hot Chili Peppers Honor Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins at New Orleans Jazz Festival

The Red Hot Chili Peppers paid tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died a month ago at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Sunday.

Foo Fighters were originally scheduled to headline the event, but the band was replaced by RHCP, who canceled upcoming tour dates following Hawkins’ death.

Smith previously said that his band plans to honor Hawkins during his performance. Meanwhile, on Smith’s bass drum, the word “Taylor” was inscribed inside the hawk, reminiscent of a hawk tattoo Hawkins had on his arm.

According to a video posted online, Smith also told people, “We love Foo Fighters and we love our brother Taylor Hawkins. It means a lot to us to be able to play with them.”

He said Hawkins’ widow Ellison was present with members of the Foo Fighters, which included Dave Grohl, before leading the crowd in a chant: “We love you, Taylor!”

Smith has spoken before advertising panel A tribute planned by the group to Hawkins.

“We are going to take Ellison, his wife, with us, and it will be a celebration,” he said. “It’s what he wants. He doesn’t want it to be anything other than “Let’s celebrate the music, let’s celebrate our friends, let’s celebrate Taylor.” That’s what he wanted and he would be very happy for you to play and he wanted it to be nothing more than a positive experience.’ So let’s do that and he’ll be a part of it and it’s a great honor for me to be able to do that with him. “Let’s play with the heart.”

Hawkins died on March 25 at age 50. The group announced his death on their Twitter account, writing, “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and timely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins. His musical spirit and infectious laugh will live on with us forever.”