Red Hot Chili Peppers made good on their word to pay tribute to Taylor Hawkins during their headlining set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest this past Sunday.
During the performance, Peppers drummer Chad Smith took a moment to give a shout-out to Hawkins, who unexpectedly passed away on March 25 at age 50.
“We love the Foo Fighters, and we love our brother Taylor Hawkins,” Smith told the cheering crowd in footage captured by the Foo Fighters Live Instagram account.
The Foos had been originally scheduled to play Jazz Fest themselves, but they canceled all their tour dates following Hawkins’ death. RHCP was then recruited to headline the festival in their place.
“This means a lot to us to be able to play for them,” Smith said. He added that “the guys in the band are here” while gesturing backstage, implying that the Foo Fighters members were in attendance. According to NOLA.com, frontman Dave Grohl was indeed watching the set.
Smith also shared that Hawkins’ widow, Alison, was attending the performance, as well.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Smith said before leading the crowd in a chant of “We love Taylor!”
Smith previously told Billboard that he and the rest of RHCP wanted their set to be a “celebration” of Hawkins.
“We’re going to play our hearts out,” he said.
In related news, Sammy Hagar and his band The Circle honored Hawkins with a performance of the Foo Fighters song “My Hero” at the Beale Street Music Festival last Friday.
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