Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett has opened up regarding the response to drummer Taylor Hawkins‘ death.
In an interview with The Plug podcast, Shiflett takes aim at “yahoo[s] on Twitter” spreading conspiracy theories about Hawkins and how he died.
“Especially right after [Hawkins] died, all these Twitter private investigators, they absolutely know what happened, and are sure of it, and it’s all wrong,” Shiflett says. “That’s been really strange to watch.”
“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,” the guitarist continues. “But it’s, like, so much of what I’ve seen out there is so completely wrong.”
In addition to conspiracy theories on social media, Shiflett calls Rolling Stone‘s article about Hawkins’ death “complete nonsense, for the most part.” The article, titled “Inside Taylor Hawkins’ Final Days as a Foo Fighter,” features quotes from artists — including Pearl Jam‘s Matt Cameron and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith — claiming that Hawkins had expressed concern with the amount of touring he had to do with Foo Fighters leading up to his death. Both Cameron and Smith distanced themselves from the article and apologized for taking part.
In speaking about the reaction to Hawkins death, Shiflett seemingly suggests that another Foo Fighters album could be possible. When asked if he’s found in recent press interviews that people have been “awkwardly not asking” about the subject, Shiflett replies, “It probably will be when we ever get around to putting out another Foo Fighter record and go back into the promo boogie woogie.”
Shiflett recently released two singles with his solo country project. He’ll join Foo Fighters for the second of their two tribute concerts to Hawkins Tuesday in Los Angeles.
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