Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett has shared his views on anti-vaxxers who used the death of the band’s drummer Taylor Hawkins to promote their COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
“There’s people out there saying s**t like Dave [Grohl] killed Taylor by making him get the COVID vaccine,” he said during an appearance on The Plug with Justin Jay. “You’re going to turn it into that? F**k you.
“I try not to pay attention to any of that stuff … but it makes you angry because that s**t is just disrespectful.”
Shiflett added: "There’s so much internet sleuthing that people are doing, and especially right after he died. All these Twitter private investigators, they absolutely know what happened and they’re sure of it. And it’s all wrong. Wrong about everything. That’s been really strange to watch."
Hawkins was found dead on March 25 in his room at the Four Seasons Casa Medina in Bogotá, Colombia. He was 50. A preliminary forensic examination found 10 substances in his system, including “THX (Marijuana), tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids."
“Taylor was this big character and he meant a lot to millions of people so I get that fascination with [his death] but so much of what I’ve seen out there is so completely wrong,” Shiflett said.
“It’s made me reconsider everything I thought I knew about Jim Morrison dying, or Randy Rhoads or any of those rock ’n' roll tragedies.”
The second of two tribute concerts is being held Tuesday in Los Angeles with an all-star list of special guests, including Canada’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Alanis Morissette and Sebastian Bach.
Shiflett said interviewers have mostly avoided asking about Hawkins’ death – so far.
“It probably will be [more of a thing] when we ever get around to putting out another Foo Fighters record and go back into the promo boogie woogie,” he said.
“I remember that when I joined Foo Fighters, it was 1999 so it was awhile after Kurt Cobain had died but I would watch interviewers twist themselves in knots trying to ask Dave about it but not ask. I would think it would turn into that kinda thing.”