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Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had 10 substances in body, initial report finds

Taylor Hawkins performs in Hollywood, California, on Feb. 16, 2022. (He was 50. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had 10 substances in his system when he was found dead in a Bogota hotel room Friday, according to a preliminary report from the Colombia Attorney General’s Office.

Results from a urine toxicology test indicated the presence of “[marijuana], tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids, among others,” a statement from the AG’s office said.


The exact cause of Hawkins’ death is still unknown. The office added that the “National Institute of Forensic Medicine continues to conduct the necessary medical studies to ascertain the cause of death.”

Local health officials said Saturday that Bogota’s emergency regulatory center had received a report of a patient with chest pain Friday night. When emergency responders arrived they attempted to resuscitate Hawkins, but he was pronounced dead.

The band announced the 50-year-old drummer had died Friday, shortly before they were set to take stage at a music festival in Bogota, Colombia.

“The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins. 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,” the band wrote on Twitter.

Just days before his tragic death, Hawkins’ shared a sweet moment with a 9-year-old drummer outside the hotel where the band was staying at the time. Photos and videos of the encounter went viral on social media.

Hawkins was Foo Fighters’ drummer for 25 of the band’s 28 years of existence, taking over for original drummer William Goldsmith in 1997.

Hawkins is survived by his wife Alison and their three children.