Foo Fighters' publicist spoke candidly about how hard it was to announce Taylor Hawkins' death.
People close to Hawkins still mourn his death months after his passing. His fans also have not processed the whole event as they could not believe he is already gone.
Most recently, Foo Fighters' publicist noted how hard it was to share the news about the legendary guitarist's death with the public. Now, he calls it one of the most challenging moments he had to do.
In a new interview with Variety, the founder of the publicity firm Nasty Little Man, Steve Martin, reflected on the death announcements he made in the past 10 years. Martin was the one to share the passing of Hawkins as well as David Bowie and Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch's deaths.
Among the three announcements, he said Hawkins' death was the tough one to process.
"With Taylor, it was more sensitive, because there were a lot of details coming out from the Colombian media," he explained. "There was a lot of second-hand talk in another magazine story, with people relaying things Taylor might have actually said but should have been left to friends talking amongst friends."
Martin noted that he wanted to ensure that the confirmation could only cause as little pain as possible to everyone. In order to do so, he went through a really delicate procedure.
Publicist Went Through a Lot After Taylor Hawkins' Death
What made it even harder was the fact that rumors about Taylor Hawkins' cause of death immediately spread.
He referred to Rolling Stone's report claiming that Hawkins got exhausted from Foo Fighters' hectic schedule. Per Ultimate Classic Rock & Cultures, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith and Pearl Jam's Matt Cameron revealed their quotes about the drummer's death were taken out of context.
Aside from these issues, Martin also clarified that his friendship with Hawkins became the biggest factor in making the delicate announcement. Per the publicist, he had to deal with his own mourning while doing his job and announcing death stories.
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Hawkins suffered chest pain while at a hotel in Bogota. The secretary of health later confirmed that an ambulance responded to the scene; unfortunately, the responders failed to revive him.
Colombia's Attorney General's Office released a preliminary forensic medical study in which it revealed that Hawkins' urine toxicology test found 10 substances in his system, including opioids, THC, tricyclic antidepressants, and benzodiazepines.
His heart also weighed double that of an average man at the time of his death.
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