Arcade Fire Met With Taylor Hawkins 'A Couple Of Weeks Before He Passed'

Arcade Fire took a moment to praise the late Taylor Hawkins as they filled in the Foo Fighters at this year's Osheaga Festival in Montreal, Canada. Frontman Win Butler and guitarist Richard Parry sits down with iHeartRadio's Jason Rockman about filling in for the legendary band after dropping out due to Hawkins' passing in March.

Butler revealed that he had met with Hawkins "a couple of weeks before he passed." He continued, "Every single time I ever hung out with them, we were just talking about music, and reminiscing about old shows. He was just like a real-deal rock’n’roller, you know? But I think sometimes people don’t appreciate how much wear and tear… getting up every night, going on stage, and the relentless touring – it’s a lot, you know what I mean? And there’s collateral damage from doing it.”

The rock community was in shock when the band announced the death of Hawkins on March 25 at the age of 50. Countless musicians from Billie Eilish to Geddy Lee expressed their sadness and shared their love for the legendary musician.

Butler ended the interview on a bittersweet note and an important reminder. "It’s always a reminder that, you know, a lot of this stuff is out of our control… It’s important to appreciate the day-to-day. I think those reminders are sort of around us all the time – we’re just usually not paying attention to them because we’re just trying to get on with it.”