The Pretenders Joined by Dave Grohl at Taylor Hawkins Tribute Show
The Pretenders were joined by Dave Grohl at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in London on Saturday.
"If there's one band Taylor and I shared a musical love for, it's this band that we spent many a night singing and dancing along with," Grohl said while founding Pretenders Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambers took the stage.
But Grohl didn't go far, strapping on a bass as Hynde launched into a gritty and punked up version of "Precious." It was the first of two songs taken from the Pretenders' 1979 self-titled debut, followed by "Tattooed Love Boys."
Despite not having played together in nearly three years Hynde, Chambers and longtime guitarist James Walbourne showed no signs of rust. Grohl fit with in with them perfectly. "Is there anything he can't play?" Hynde quipped, adding, "Well, he's married, so I'm probably not going to find out."
Paying tribute to Hawkins, Hynde said, "He loved me, but I loved him more." She noted that the next song they were going to play was "one that Taylor would have requested" as the band slipped into "Brass in Pocket."
In 2019, Hynde appeared on Hawkins' third and final album with his solo band, the Coattail Riders, Get the Money. Hynde sang vocals on the LP's title track, which also featured guest appearances from Joe Walsh and Duff McKagan.
Hawkins completed the album between his Foo Fighters commitments. "I have a home studio," he said in an interview with Billboard in 2019. "And even though the Foo Fighters tour a lot, we do it in two-to-three-week legs and then have a couple of weeks off. So I would write stuff on the road, and then when I was home, I would sneak over to the guest house where my studio is and put down tracks."
Before working with her on "Get the Money," Hawkins had never met Hynde. The drummer admitted at the time that the Pretenders frontwoman called the album title "juvenile."
"Tough, man," he said. "She's a tough gal. But I’ve caught her sweet side."
In May, Hynde acknowledge Hawkins' death in a Facebook post. "I'm still smarting at the abrupt departure of Taylor Hawkins," she said. "You know, I sang on his album, spoke to him a hundred times on the phone (about bands, bands and more bands), but never actually got to meet him vis-a-vis. He was in London a couple years ago and invited me to go out with him and his wife for a wander around town, but I was laid up with something (COVID? I’ll never know for sure). So so bummed. A joyful personality was he."
A second tribute concert for Hawkins is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on Sept. 27.