Taylor Made

A good friend of mine is called Roger Taylor. He’s really into classical music and loathes pop and rock. For years whenever I wrote to him I would address the envelope to:

‘Mr Roger Taylor (the drummer from Queen)’

This would really rile him. So I wrote to him as often as I could. 

Eventually he would express annoyance and insist that I stop doing it. I’m not one to deliberately aggravate people so I agreed and began addressing each envelope to: 

‘Mr Roger Taylor (the drummer from Duran Duran)’

We Will Rock You

A couple of years ago I went to Wembley Stadium to the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert. I sat in a seat paid for Roger Taylor (the drummer from Queen). Seriously. 

Liam, the mate I went with, has ‘connections’ and so my very expensive (padded) seat was a bona fide rock star treat. Nice!

The gig was great. A real eclectic mixture of rock and pop from the last five decades.

Liam Gallagher kicked off the proceedings backed by Foo Fighters, Nile Rodgers did his funk chuck groove thang and Supergrass made everyone feel young for three minutes with Alright. 

Later Chrissie Hynde performed Brass In Pocket and we got a few Police hits too with their drummer Stewart Copeland shaking his sticks. The big rock acts owned the second half with AC/DC, Rush and Queen all on blistering form.  

Foo Fighters closed the show with an emotional greatest hits package, augmented by various guests, including Paul McCartney no less. Seeing Foo Fighters belting out The Frog Chorus was amazing.

It was a enormous show and the first of two massive tribute concerts to commemorate the life of Taylor Hawkins.

No Mortal Man

It’s okay. You can ask the question.

Taylor who?

Taylor Hawkins.

Still no? Honestly it’s okay. He was the drummer from Foo Fighters. He died unexpectedly, earlier in 2022.

So . . . a full scale Wembley stadium tribute concert for . . . a drummer?

Well, let’s get the details right. There were actually two full scale sold out absolutely huge tribute stadium concerts for Taylor.

As well as the Wembley gig there was a second huge show in Los Angeles, each concert boasting a huge and eclectic array of headline acts.

The goodwill and sheer amount of people stepping up to commemorate this guy was huge.

It was all huge.

Yes, but why? I’ve never even heard of Taylor . . . 

Fair enough, he was just the drummer in a band after all. I’m a big fan of music but he was only just on my radar.

But here’s the thing . . . it turns out this guy, the drummer in a band, was pretty much the most likeable guy on Planet Rock.

I’d heard before that he was a nice guy and assumed he was just the most popular metalhead around. But it turns out he was the real deal for so very many people.

You're My Sunshine

I’ve got to say I was bowled over by the continuous torrent of warm words for this guy. There were so many stories and examples of his humanity, from so many different and disparate sources. It was quite overwhelming. 

His exuberance and love and compassion for all things in his path really came across through all sorts of divides. Age gaps, gender gaps, cultural barriers, geographical boundaries. Any gap you care to name, it seemed, Taylor would bridge it.

His job was to drum along to songs. But the way he had gone about his job over the years meant he had become so much more than the drummer from Foo Fighters.

There was a lovely story about a large music store he used to hang around in whenever he was not touring and had time at home. 

The manager of the store went to the percussion section one day, asking about suspicious transactions on Taylor’s credit card. 

“I think there must be some fraud going on because there’s thousands of dollars of charges. This has gone on over months, but I’ve never seen Taylor buy anything.” 

“Ah, yeah,” said the guy on the percussion counter. “Taylor buys drum equipment; sets, sticks, cymbals, whatever’s needed for any of the kids he was hanging out with.”

He’d spend time with the kids in the store, who wanted to be musicians, just shooting the breeze and encouraging them. And then buy them decent quality equipment.

From what I’ve learned that seemed completely typical of who he was. Under the radar, generous by default.

Now I’m Here

Thirty years ago the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert took place at exactly the same venue. Brian May referred to it touchingly at a reflective moment at the end of Queen’s barnstorming set. 

Freddie was, of course, a huge star. A world famous frontman and instantly recognisable. We all knew who Freddie was.

Taylor didn’t have that level of fame and recognition but still, the music world came out for him in their droves. Sometimes things can feel tokenistic. This really didn’t. Taylor had clearly made his positive mark on everyone who crossed his path.

This Top Tip is to recognise that it’s not what your paid role is in life but how you go about embodying all of your life that really matters. 

We sometimes define ourselves by our work title. People sometimes feel that because they’re in a certain role they’re not allowed to act a certain way. Not allowed to like certain things. Not allowed to express certain emotions Not allowed to show how they feel.

A title or role can be constraining. People can sometimes feel that because they didn’t quite reach a certain role, or pay grade or level of recognition, that they are somehow less. And then they act accordingly.

The Show Must Go On

Taylor Hawkins isn't being commemorated because he was a drummer. My lesson from Taylor Hawkins is that even though he was ‘just the drummer in a band’, he was in fact an absolute superstar to everyone who met him.

He acted not according to his role, but according to his character. That's my takeaway, to try and be the best version of me whatever the external situation. Whether it's at work, rest or play.

We all know that people don't remember what you said or did but how you made them feel. And Taylor Hawkins clearly made everyone he touched feel all the better for meeting him.

There are drummers. And then there are drummers. I should maybe mention as well that Taylor was a top top drummer. He was brilliant at his job. I mean, he had to audition to the drummer from Nirvana to get the job right?

So whatever your job is, be as good as you can be in it. But remember that it’s not the whole of what you are. It’s just one part and it shouldn’t define or restrict you. 

If you feel it does then tear off those mental bindings immediately. 

Have fun this weekend being totally awesome in every way!

Onwards and upwards!