The folks at Loudwire discovered a video of 15-year-old Taylor Hawkins — future drummer of the Foo Fighters — rocking the drumkit on a cover of Van Halen’s “Panama” as part of a High School Battle of the Bands competition in Laguna Beach, Calif. Loudwire writes:
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has been known to rock Van Halen‘s “Panama” both with the Foos and his covers band Chevy Metal, but as we can see, there’s a reason he’s so good at it. He’s been playing it since the 9th Grade (maybe longer).
The video was shot in 1987, just three years after Eddie, Alex, Michael and Diamond Dave dropped the future classic on listeners. As for the rest of the band, you can debate their talents, but there’s little denying that Hawkins was a monster drummer in the making, even as a high school freshman.
Here’s a pic of taylor with Edward and Wolfgang from back in 2012.
Met Taylor Hawkins from the @foofighters after the show tonight! Such a nice guy! #sickdrummer pic.twitter.com/uIzcjgNR
— Wolf Van Halen (@WolfVanHalen) June 15, 2012