The Foo Fighters are canceling tour dates as the band mourns the sudden death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Hawkins, 50, died Friday night in a hotel in Bogotá, Colombia, before the band's performance at the Festival Estéreo Picnic. That show was canceled.
The Foo Fighters formally announced an early end of tour Tuesday, following what was described as the "staggering loss" of Hawkins.
"We’re sorry for and share in the disappointment that we won’t be seeing one another as planned," the band said. "Instead, let’s take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we’ve made together."
Hawkins was a humble, beloved member of the group who held a strong friendship with Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl. In Grohl's memoir he spoke of an instant connection with Hawkins.
“I am not afraid to say that our chance meeting was a kind of love at first sight, igniting a musical ‘twin flame’ that still burns to this day," Grohl said.
An official cause of death is still being investigated, but an early toxicology report found that Hawkins had multiple substances in body at the time of his death, including benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants, and THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.
A Spanish-language press release said that a call to the emergency response center asked for assistance to the hotel for reports of "a patient with chest pains."
Hawkins is survived by his wife and their three children.
