Taylor Hawkins Once Almost Joined Guns N’ Roses
Taylor Hawkins is best known as the drummer for the Foo Fighters, but "there was a time" that he almost joined Axl Rose's Chinese Democracy lineup of Guns N' Roses. The drummer was advised on his decision by none other than Queen's Roger Taylor.
When the Foos were on tour in support of their third studio album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, Hawkins received a phone call from someone in the Guns N' Roses camp. This was around 2000, a few years after Slash and Duff McKagan left the band, and Rose was trying to get together a new lineup.
“They wanted to know if I would come in and try out or whatever. It was kind of otherworldly," the drummer told Louder. Upon considering the offer, he sought advice from the Queen drummer, who had been in a similar position himself in the '70s when he was offered to join Mott the Hoople members in a new band.
Taylor almost went with the offer, but couldn't imagine finding the same chemistry he had with his bandmates in Queen. “And he said, ‘I see you and Dave [Grohl] onstage and there’s something you can’t buy there. There’s something between you guys that might not be there with Axl Rose.’ And he was right,'" Hawkins said.
The drummer's third album with the Coattail Riders, Get the Money, just came out this past Friday (Nov. 8). The album features a plethora of guests, including Grohl, McKagan, Heart's Nancy Wilson and more.
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