Foo Fighters Guitarist, Chris Shiflett, Indicates the Band Will Likely Continue in Wake of Taylor Hawkins’ Death

Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett has indicated that the band will likely forge ahead despite the recent and tragic death of the group’s famed drummer, Taylor Hawkins.

Speaking on The Plug with Justin Jay about his new solo releases, Shiflett talked about the Foo Fighters and their plans to continue without Hawkins, who died of a drug overdose earlier this year.

Calling the subject “raw,” the guitarist says he’s chosen not to do much publicity, knowing the “uncomfortable” questions about Hawkins and the band would be posed.

He said, “I told my publicists I preferred to avoid that topic entirely.” The guitarist added, “It’s hard to talk about—it’s raw. You go through all these different phases of grieving.”

Though, he said, there has to be a time in the future when the questions are addressed in earnest and head-on.

“It probably will be [more of a thing] when we ever get around to putting out another Foo Fighters record and go back into the promo boogie-woogie,” Shiflett said.

He continued, “I remember that when I joined Foo Fighters, it was 1999, so it was a while after Kurt Cobain had died, but I would watch interviewers twist themselves in knots trying to ask Dave [Grohl] about it but not ask. I would think it would turn into that kinda thing.”

Shiflett also decried “Internet sleuths” who have talked about unfounded conspiracies about Hawkins’ passing. Said the musician, “I understand people’s fascination with it… but so much of what I’ve seen out there is so completely wrong.”

(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)