The first posthumous recording from late-Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has been released. Rolling Stone reported Hawkins recorded the vocal to Edgar Winter's cover of his late-brother Johnny Winters' “Guess I'll Go Away” from the newly released Brother Johnny tribute collection.
Edgar had posted a tribute to Hawkins on his official website and spoke about how Hawkins refused payment for the work on the album. “He said, 'I just wanna get out there and rock, and rock he did. . . It’s a song about the lure of sex, the danger of drugs, and the love of rock & roll. Johnny wrote it around the time of his first rehab, and it expresses feelings almost everyone I know has been through in one way or another. I would guess (like most all musicians) Taylor couldn’t help but identify with it.”
He went on to write: “All I know is he put his whole heart and soul into it, and I am so sad that I never found a way to thank him properly as he so deeply and profoundly deserved. The name of the song is 'Guess I’ll Go Away.' Now, both Johnny and Taylor have gone away no one can know, but which we all one day must travel. Although I know Johnny has departed this world, I still think of and speak to him every day, and will now see Taylor’s face alongside his.”
Not too long ago, Taylor Hawkins told us that classic rock and heavy metal have always held the biggest influence for him: “It's there, y'know, and I wear 'em heavily on my sleeve, my influences. It's in my DNA now, y'know? I've listened to it enough. I'm under the influence, no question, y'know?”