Obituaries Detail

In addition to his musicianship, Hawkins brought humour, enthusiasm and personality to the group. As well as singing on the Foo Fighters songs Cold Day in the Sun and Sunday Rain, he would often sing cover versions with the band and was a regular songwriting contributor on their albums. Recent live shows had found him seizing the microphone to step into Freddie Mercury’s shoes – not a job for the faint-hearted – and perform an outsized version of Queen’s Somebody to Love, as he did at his final performance with the band at Lollapalooza Argentina on 20 March.

Hawkins is survived by his wife, Alison, whom he married in 2005, and their children, Oliver, Annabelle and Everleigh.