Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith Honors Taylor Hawkins at VMAs

Chad Smith paid tribute to Taylor Hawkins throughout Red Hot Chili Peppers’ look at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards.

The Chili Peppers had been given this 12 months’s Global Icon Award, an honor which was bestowed on Foo Fighters in the course of the 2021 ceremony. As Red Hot Chili Peppers tore by means of a pair of songs — current single “Black Summer” and traditional hit “Can’t Stop” — Smith carried out on a drum package that featured Hawkins’ distinctive hawk emblem, together with “Taylor” on the bass drum.

As Smith took the mic for his portion of the band’s acceptance speech, he once more paid tribute to his departed pal.

“There’s another musical icon — global icon — and his name is my brother Taylor Hawkins,” Smith declared. “And I wanna dedicate this to Taylor and his family. I love them, and I miss him every day. Fly on, Hawk.”

Hawkins was discovered lifeless on March 25 previous to the Foo Fighters’ scheduled efficiency in Bogota, Colombia. Smith has honored his the late-musician on a number of events since then, together with throughout his speech when the Red Hot Chili Peppers obtained their star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Smith was additionally concerned in a controversial report from Rolling Stone that alleged Hawkins had been “exhausted” by the Foo Fighters’ schedule. The Chili Peppers drummer was quoted within the story, saying that Hawkins “had a real important heart-to-heart with Dave [Grohl] and the management.” Smith later expressed remorse over his involvement within the piece. “I was asked by Rolling Stone to talk about Taylor for a tribute article and I certainly didn’t expect it to be a piece about his last days,” the drummer defined through assertion. “Had I known that, I never would have talked to the magazine, and I apologize for any pain my participation in the article may have caused his family and his musical friends. I miss him every day.”

Two star-studded tribute concert events are set to honor Hawkins. The first will happen Sept. 3 in London, whereas the second is scheduled for Sept. 27 in Los Angeles. Smith is among the many artists taking part within the LA present.