Dave Grohl was back in Toronto this week as he prepares for a pair of concerts honouring his late friend and bandmate Taylor Hawkins.
The Foo Fighters frontman posed for a photo with homegrown rock stars Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson at Barberian's Steakhouse.
Veteran session drummer Omar Hakim, who is also in the pic, shared it on Instagram with the caption: “Getting ready for the first Taylor Hawkins Tribute Show in London! So FUN for Dave and I to rehearse with Geddy and Alex of RUSH!!”
Lee, Lifeson and Hakim (who played percussion on the Foo Fighters 2021 album Medicine at Midnight) are taking part in the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts on Sept. 3 at London’s Wembley Stadium and Sept. 27 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
It’s not the first time Grohl has hung out with Lee in the Toronto area. In June 2019, the two arrived together at Cosmo MusicFest in Richmond Hill, where Lee was signing copies of his Big Beautiful Book of Bass.
Lee said his mother Mary Weinrib (who died last year) became a friend of Grohl’s mother Virginia Grohl, who flew to Toronto while working on her 2017 book about rock star moms, From Cradle to Stage.
Hawkins died in March while on tour with Foo Fighters in Bogotá, Colombia. He was 50.
Foo Fighters were scheduled to perform July 22 at the Rogers Centre – but the band cancelled all remaining tour dates following Hawkins’ death.
Guests at the upcoming tribute concerts include Liam Gallagher, Kesha, Geezer Butler, Miley Cyrus, Joe Elliott, Joan Jett, Brian May, P!nk, Mark Ronson, Gene Simmons, Nikki Sixx and Nancy Wilson as well as Canadians Alanis Morissette and Sebastian Bach.
Drummers like Lars Ulrich, Travis Barker, Stewart Copeland, Chad Smith and Roger Taylor are also taking part.