Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had multiple drugs in his system when he died, authorities say

Taylor Hawkins has a history of drug use. A heroin overdose in 2001 left him in a coma. Photo: Reuters

Taylor Hawkins, the drummer for multiplatinum rock band Foo Fighters, had an assortment of drugs in his system when he died Friday (March 25), Colombian authorities said.

An initial forensic medical examination and urine toxicology report of the musician’s body revealed 10 substances in his system, including THC (marijuana), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids, according to a statement from the Colombian attorney general’s office Saturday via Twitter.

Emergency services responded to a call of a patient with chest pains at the Four Seasons Hotel Casa Medina Bogota on Friday. Hawkins was found dead in the hotel room, the authorities said. A spokesman for Foo Fighters was not immediately available for comment.

“The National Institute of Forensic Medicine continues to conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death,” the attorney general’s office statement added. “The Attorney General’s Office will continue to investigate and will duly inform the findings of forensic examinations in due time.”

Hawkins was in Bogota to perform with the Foo Fighters, two nights before the band’s headlining set at Lollapalooza Brazil on Sunday. He was 50.

The band announced Hawkins’ death on its Instagram account. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the announcement read. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever. Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginably difficult time.”

Hawkins has a history of drug use. A heroin overdose in 2001 left him in a coma.

“I was partying in London one night, and I mistakenly did something and it changed everything,” Hawkins told Kerrang! magazine in 2019. “I believed the bulls— myth of live hard and fast, die young. I’m not here to preach about not doing drugs, because I loved doing drugs, but I just got out of control for a while and it almost got me. I was heading down a road that was going to lead to even worse paths. I’m glad it got knocked on the head at that point. I go mountain biking now.” – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service