The cause of death was not disclosed.
On Friday, the band was scheduled to perform in Bogotá, Colombia, for the Festival Estereo Picnic followed by Lollapalooza Brasil on Sunday, according to its website.
The performance was canceled just as fans were gathering at 11 p.m., according to Romeo Reyes who told CNN he traveled from El Salvador to Bogotá to attend the festival.
“We were getting into position when they announced that the Foo Fighters would not be performing, but they didn’t say why. About 10 minutes later, the news broke that Taylor had died,” Reyes said.
“No one knew the reason for the cancellation. … We were all sad. But like I said, nobody knew that Taylor had died. We found out about 10-15 minutes later,” he said.
Later, candles were placed on the main stage as a vigil for Hawkins, and the screens on five stages projected the message, “Taylor Hawkins Por Siempre,” which translates as “Taylor Hawkins Forever.”
Hawkins remembered
The Foo Fighters were formed in 1994 by Dave Grohl, who had been the drummer with Nirvana.
“When you have a drummer like Taylor Hawkins in your band, I don’t necessarily miss being the drummer — because I have the greatest drummer in the world,” Grohl said. “Taylor is a much more technically minded drummer than I am.”
In the same interview, Hawkins acknowledged that it took him a while to find his place in the band but that Grohl “never made it hard.”
He also spoke about his first musical love, the British band Queen.
“I wanted to be Roger Taylor and I wanted to be in Queen,” Hawkins said. “I wanted to play stadiums when I was 10 years old.”
News of his death prompted an outpouring of sorrow on social media from fans and fellow musicians.
Miley Cyrus, who is scheduled to perform in at the Lollapalooza Brasil on Saturday, said on Instagram she would dedicate her performance in São Paulo to Hawkins.
She also shared a photo of Hawkins playing the drums, captioning it, “This is how I’ll always remember you.”
And singer Ozzy Osbourne spoke on Hawkins’ character, saying he was “was truly a great person and an amazing musician.”
CNN’s David de Sola and Melissa Alonso contributed to this report.
