Entertainment Editor Andy Gray

I didn’t expect to cry.

My family will tell you I’m not the most sentimental guy. And while I’ve seen Foo Fighters five or six times over the years, I have no personal connection to Taylor Hawkins, outside of my wife and I once sharing an elevator with Hawkins and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith while in New York a decade ago.

But the tribute concert Saturday at London’s Wembley Stadium for the Foo Fighters’ drummer, who died earlier this year before a concert in South America, was an emotional experience, even watching it at home.

I was as surprised as anyone when I caught myself wiping a tear away during the second song of a six-hour event — Liam Gallagher of Oasis backed by the Foo Fighters while singing “Live Forever.”

It wasn’t the only time.

Watching Dave Grohl struggle to get through “Times Like These” to start the Foos’ main set was heartbreaking, but expected. The two were undeniably close, a brotherhood intensified for those outside of the band’s inner circle by the fact that Hawkins’ looked like he could be Grohl’s blond-haired kid brother, both exuding boundless energy while chewing out the rhythm on their bubblegum in interviews and on stage.

But some of the most heartfelt moments came from unexpected sources. Comedian Dave Chappelle talked about hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2020 when the Foo Fighters were the musical guests, and then being invited to sing Radiohead’s “Creep” (Chappelle’s favorite karaoke song) with Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden.

There he saw Hawkins interact with his son, an aspiring drummer, and he watched father and son discuss the drummer while watching the jazz band Chappelle took them to see at The Blue Note.

“I’d seen him be a rock star,” Chappelle said. “This was the first time I’d seen him be a dad.”

What made the show so powerful was the multi-generational lineup. The stage was filled with Hawkins’ musical peers — bandmates from the Foos and his side projects, Chevy Metal and the Coattail Riders — along with the musicians he idolized — members of Rush, Queen, The Pretenders, AC / DC, The Beatles and many others.

Most importantly, the tribute included the next generation of musicians. It was impossible not to think of the loss felt by Hawkins’ children while watching Wolfgang Van Halen play the guitar licks his late father, Eddie, originated with Van Halen.

Grohl’s daughter, Violet, sang backing vocals off and on throughout the event and sang lead on several songs, including a pair of songs by one of Hawkins’ favorite artists, Jeff Buckley. Thankfully, she didn’t do “Hallelujah;” hearing Buckley’s “Last Goodbye” in that context was hard enough.

Rufus Tiger Taylor, son of Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor, not only played with his father and Queen’s Brian May on Saturday, but he also played drums with Foo Fighters, which was freaky since Tiger Taylor is Hawkins’ doppelganger.

And Shane Hawkins also took the seat behind the Foo Fighters normally occupied by his dad as the band played “My Hero.”

I watched the entire concert on Paramount Plus. There were some missing introductions and some minor technical glitches but, for a show of that scale, it largely was free of problems. The transitions between acts were quick, and I liked the fact that they didn’t try to fill that time with talking heads telling us how monumental the event was. We didn’t need anyone to point that out.

There is no shortage of clips from the event available on YouTube, and MTV is supposed to air a two-hour version of the event later this month. Seek it out if you missed it, for the once-in-a-lifetime musical performances, if nothing else.

OK, maybe twice in a lifetime. A second tribute concert is planned Sept. 27 in Los Angeles. I doubt they’ll make the LA as readily available for home viewing as the London concert was. In some ways, it can’t help but be a little anticlimactic since many of the acts are playing both shows. However, several are only doing the second event.

If it’s on somewhere, I’ll probably be watching.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.