Miley Cyrus performs with Def Leppard at Taylor Hawkins tribute gig in LA
The pop star sang ‘Photograph’ alongside the band and Dave Grohl, the latter of whom made an emotional opening speech
By Tom Skinner
Miley Cyrus joined forces with Dave Grohl and Def Leppard at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in LA last night (September 27).
The special event, which was held at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum, featured performances by the likes of Joan Jett, Chevy Metal, Mark Ronson and Wolfgang Van Halen. To close the show, Foo Fighters played a greatest hits set with help from a revolving cast of guest drummers including Travis Barker and Hawkins‘ 16-year-old son, Shane.
Cyrus, who was friends with Hawkins, took to the stage with Def Leppard to sing their 1983 single ‘Photograph’. The pop star shared vocal duties with frontman Joe Elliott while Grohl assisted on guitar.
Def Leppard also treated the audience to an airing of their classic track ‘Rock of Ages’. Check out the footage beneath.
Making an emotional speech at the start of the event, which followed this month’s London tribute gig, Grohl said: “This is the hometown shit, so you gotta make it loud.
“We started working on putting both of these shows together a long, long time ago. Because what we really wanted to do was to pay tribute to Taylor in a way that you could sort of spend some time in his musical mind, which can be a pretty terrifying place.”
He continued: “But just as [with] the show in London, we’ve all gathered here to celebrate this person that has touched our lives – whether from afar, or for all of his friends and family and loved ones… buddies and heroes that are here tonight.
“If any of you have ever had the blessing to spend time with Taylor Hawkins, you’ll know that that dude could make you fucking smile and dance and laugh and sing.”
Grohl added: “So what we’ve done is we’ve brought an even fucking crazier cast of characters for you tonight to play music that Taylor loved, by the people that Taylor loved, and the people that loved Taylor. It’s gonna be a long fucking night.”
Taylor Hawkins died in Bogotá, Colombia on March 25. He was 50 years old. Foo Fighters subsequently cancelled all of their scheduled live appearances. The recent Wembley concert marked the first time the surviving members had performed together since.
Shortly after Hawkins’ death, Miley Cyrus dedicated her set at Lollapalooza Brazil to the late musician. During the show, she performed a touching rendition of her song ‘Angels Like You’ as an image of the drummer was displayed on the big screen.