As well as being a rock drumming icon, it's well known that Taylor Hawkins had a world-class set of pipes to match. But while we might have been used to hearing Hawkins' distinctive gravel on the Foo Fighters' cover versions of Queen, Led Zeppelin as well as his own compositions, it was a rare occurrence for Taylor to sing lead vocals on a Foo Fighters song beyond the couple he recorded.
But that's exactly what happened at Germany's Rock am Ring festival in 2018. After screaming his way through most of the band's two-hour set, Dave Grohl - who appeared to have been struggling with his voice from the outset - led the band into Times Like These from 2002 album, One By One.
Speaking to the crowd who were still chanting the melody from Best Of You (which they'd just finished), Grohl says, "Shit, I don't want to stop [the show]. We're not going to stop, ok?"
"We're just going to keep going. I don't know what's going to come out of my mouth, but…y'know." Before glancing across the stage and asking "You got them steroids ready?!"
Grohl hoarsely makes his way through the live arrangement - which opens with guitar and vocals. When he gets to the first chorus, Hawkins - clearly noticing that his boss, bandmate and best friend is having a tough time getting through the song - joins in with a falsetto backing vocal, at the same time catching Grohl by surprise.
From here Grohl eases back, allowing Taylor to finish the chorus, before giving him the nod to continue solo. Hawkins (to the melody of the verse) sings, "I don't know the fucking words, but I'm singing anyway…".
The band kicks-in with the hit 6/4 riff, before Hawkins and Grohl see out the rest of the song together in a touching moment that is now made even more poignant since the drummer's untimely passing.
What's more, they followed it up with a belting cover of the Faces' Stay With Me (above), once again featuring Taylor Hawkins on lead vocals, nailing his Rod Stewart impression.
