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There are few “bromances” in rock as strong as the ongoing connection between Foo Fighters Dave Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins. Hawkins joined the Foos’ in 1997 after the band’s second album following an 18-month stint drumming for Alanis Morissette, who was touring in support of her breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill.
Ultimate-Guitar.com transcribed some of Dave Grohl’s chat with KLOS, where he recalled, “The first time we met, we were at some radio show backstage, and he came up with a beer in his hand. He’s like, ‘Hey, man, what’s up? I’m Taylor, I play with Alanis Morissette. Dude, I love your record, it’s so cool!’ He was such a spaz. I was like, ‘Wow, you’re either my twin or my spirit animal, or my best friend!’ In the first 10 seconds of meeting him. And, of course, I’d seen him play the drums and I thought he was an amazing drummer.”
“When it was time to look for a drummer, I wished that he would do it but I didn’t imagine he would leave Alanis Morissette because at the time she was the biggest artist in the world. So when I called him and said, ‘Hey, I’m looking for a drummer.’ He said, ‘You know I’m your guy.’ And I think it had more to do with our personal relationship than anything musical. And to be honest, it still does. Our musical relationship, the foundation of that is our friendship, and that’s why when we jump up on stage and play, we’re so connected because we’re like best friends, and it’s great.”
Over the years, Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins have played with some of their heroes — including Queen, Paul McCartney, and Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, to name a few. Hawkins told us a while back that it’s the ultimate charge playing alongside his musical idols: “Not only do you get to just, like, pinch yourself — ‘Wow, I’m in the room with this person’ — but you also get to kind of try and soak up a little bit of what they do musically, y’know? It’s neat. It really is amazing, and you really get to be in the presence of greatness when you’re with people like that.”