Red Hot Chili Peppers honour Foo Fighters’ drummer at Jazz Fest

New Orleans’ chief music festival ended its first weekend with the Red Hot Chili Peppers honouring the late Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins by closing the show for his band.

Hawkins died on March 25 and the Foo Fighters bowed out of their slot at Jazz Fest, the first time New Orleans has held the massive festival since Covid-19 cancelled it in 2020 and 2021.

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith’s base drum on Sunday had a hawk silhouette like the one tattooed on Hawkins’ arm.

Taylor was written across it, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

And at the end of the 90-minute set, Smith took centre stage as Hawkins’ widow and members of the Foo Fighters stood just off stage.

“We love the Foo Fighters and we love our brother Taylor Hawkins. It’s meant a lot to us to be able to play for them,” said Smith, who then led the crowd in chanting ‘We love you Taylor’.”

The vibe of the 2022 Jazz Fest echoed the 2006 festival, held eight months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

The 2020 and 2021 festivals were cancelled by an entirely different storm — Covid-19.

The two-weekend event draws tens of thousands to the city’s Fair Grounds Race Course, where as many as 80 musical acts perform daily on more than a dozen stages, complemented by art and craft exhibits and an array of booths featuring foods from Louisiana and beyond.

Jazz Fest attracts well known acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Who and Lionel Richie but it might be best known for showcasing a dizzying array of Louisiana musical talent, styles and genres – jazz, blues, Cajun, Zydeco and more.