Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett has lashed out at those sharing conspiracy theories around the death of his late bandmate, Taylor Hawkins. During an appearance on The Plug With Justin Jay podcast, Shiflett shared his thoughts on the “disrespectful” internet speculation surrounding Hawkins’ death. “This one is very different because of the public side of it and there’s so much internet sleuthing that people are doing and especially right after he died,” he said. “All these Twitter private investigators… it’s all wrong. They’re wrong about everything and that’s been really strange to watch.”
Shiflett continued, “I understand people’s fascination with it. Taylor was this big character and he meant a lot to millions of people all over the world, so on one hand I get that fascination with it, but it’s like so much of what I’ve seen out there is so completely wrong.” The guitarist, reluctantly, shared some of what he’s seen people saying. “I mean, there’s people out there saying s— like Dave [Grohl] killed Taylor by making him get the COVID vaccine,” he said. “It’s just s— like that. It’s like, ‘Ah f— you’re going to turn it into that? F— you!’” He added that he tries “not to pay attention to any of that stuff,” and later said, “It’s just some yahoo on Twitter, but it does make you angry because that shit is just disrespectful if you ask me.”
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Hawkins died on March 25 — in Bogotá, Colombia — ahead of a concert the Foo Fighters were scheduled to perform. The terrible news of Hawkins’ death was first revealed by the band, who issued a statement on social media that evening. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the statement 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.”
In September, months after Hawkins’ sudden death, the Foo Fighters put on two tribute shows, one in the U.K. and one in Los Angeles, California. The first was held in London on Saturday, Sept. 3, and included a number of iconic stars, such as Paul McCartney, Travis Barker, and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson. The second was held on Sept. 27, and featured artists like Miley Cyrus, Gene Simmons, and Nikki Sixx.
