Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dead at age 50

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Rock band Foo Fighters have confirmed the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, who was found in his hotel room in the Colombian capital Bogota hours before a scheduled festival performance.

"The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins. His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever," the band said on Twitter late Friday.

"Our hearts go out to his wife, children and family, and we ask that their privacy be treated with the utmost respect in this unimaginable difficult time."

Just hours before the show, the lifeless body of the musician was discovered in his hotel room, although the cause of his death is reportedly not yet known.

A preliminary police report found that his death “could be associated with the consumption of narcotic substances."

In interviews, Hawkins had told of his fondness for drug use and a 2001 heroin overdose he said put him in a coma for two weeks.

Hawkins was Dave Grohl's right-hand man in Foo Fighters since he joined the group in 1997, two years after Grohl started the band following the end of Nirvana, with the death of the legendary Kurt Cobain.

Hawkins was also one of Grohl's closest friends.

Hawkins was born in Forth Worth, Texas, on Feb. 17, 1972, but he grew up in Laguna Beach, California, where he began to develop his passion for drumming from a very young age. He also excelled at playing the piano and guitar.

The band was to perform at the Estereo Picnic festival in Bogota on Friday. Before the Black Pumas' performance began, the band's leader came out to announce the news and asked for a minute's silence in tribute to the drummer.

Screens on all five stages projected the message, "Taylor Hawkins Por Siempre," or "Taylor Hawkins Forever."

The festival released a statement confirming the band would not be playing in the three-day festival and had canceled the rest of their South American tour.

The band had performed in Mexico, Argentina and Chile and was about to play in Colombia and Brazil.