On January 16th, 2019, the Forum in Los Angeles hosted a massive all-star concert in honor of the late Chris Cornell billed as "I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell." Metallica, Foo Fighters, Melvins, Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell, Miley Cyrus, Chris Stapleton, Ryan Adams, as well as surviving members of Cornell's bands Audioslave, Temple of the Dog and Soundgarden all performed, sometimes mixing and matching to form one-night-only supergroups.
Joining Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd for one of their songs was Foo Fighters' Taylor Hawkins. The drummer was also a powerhouse singer who fronted a variety of side projects as well as occasionally the Foos themselves, and at the Cornell tribute show, he took on the awesome challenge of singing the grunge giants' "The Day I Tried to Live," backed by the band themselves as well as the Melvins' Buzz Osborne.
Needless to say, Hawkins did a phenomenal job, not just with the skyscraping vocals but also in his high-energy performance, striking exuberant power stances and lifting his metal horns heavenward. It's a poignant viewing experience now, considering Hawkin's own untimely death in March 2022. Watch above.
