Miley Cyrus was overcome with grief during her Lollapalooza Brazil performance, which she had dedicated to her friend and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who tragically died on Friday (March 25) at the age of 50. The pop star — who was headlining the music festival alongside the Foo Fighters this weekend — broke down in tears on stage the following day and devoted the song “Angels Like You” to Taylor.
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Leaning on a speaker, Miley began her emotional speech by telling the audience she had spoken to Taylor earlier in the week after her plane made an emergency landing on the way to the Asunciónico Music Festival in Paraguay, where the Foo Fighters were performing. “We had to make this emergency landing and the first person that I called was Taylor, because he was already at the festival,” she said, as her voice began to tremble. “That would’ve been a time that I would’ve gone to see my friend, and I didn’t, so it makes me really sad,” she added. “I would’ve done anything to hang out with him one more time.”
As the tears began to flow and she continued to wipe them away, the Hannah Montana star added, “I know that I get on stage, and anytime that I get to play with my band – which if anything ever f**king happened to any of them it would f**king kill me, so I couldn’t imagine how the Foo Fighters feel today.”
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The “Plastic Hearts” singer was one of the first celebrities to react to the passing of Taylor, who tragically died in his hotel room in Bogota, Colombia on Friday (March 25) at the age of 50. “This is how I’ll always remember you,” Miley wrote on her Instagram Stories, sharing a heartbreaking, black-and-white picture of Taylor. “My show tomorrow is dedicated to Taylor Hawkins.” In a second post, Cyrus shared a link to the iconic Pretenders song “Brass in Pocket”, writing, “My favorite memory of Taylor is dancing round the drum kit while he played this song… Playing it on repeat, imagining us… laughing forever.”
There were few details on how Taylor died after the news broke, although based on preliminary findings, it appears he may have overdosed on 10 different drugs, including opioids, according to TMZ. While the death investigation into what killed Taylor continues, the Foo Fighters said in a statement on Friday that his death was a “tragic and untimely loss.” Taylor’s last performance with the band was on Sunday (March 20) at a concert in San Isidro, Argentina.
“His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever,” the band said of Taylor on Twitter. “Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginable difficult time.” Taylor is survived by his wife Alison and their three children.