Nancy Wilson Salutes Taylor Hawkins on New Song, "Amigo Amiga"

Nancy Wilson (left) and Taylor Hawkins
(Image credit: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images, Medios y Media/Getty Images)

Heart vocalist and electric and acoustic guitar player Nancy Wilson has released a new single, "Amigo Amiga," that pays tribute to her friend and occasional collaborator, late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Hawkins played on Wilson's debut solo album, 2021's You and Me, as a thank-you for Wilson's own appearance on Get the Money, the 2019 album by Hawkins and his band, the Coattail Riders.

Outside of their collaborations, the two were fast friends, sharing a bond that drives this beautiful and emotional acoustic ballad. You can see the lyric video for "Amigo Amiga" below.

“The night we heard about losing Taylor I started writing the song," Wilson said in a statement. "I heard myself in tears saying ‘too soon too soon’ which became a refrain in the song. 

"I spent quite a few sleepless nights trying to express it all. He was a wonderful friend and we always had funny pet names for each other like Amigo and Amiga as well as Luv and Dahling. I sang on his great solo album Get the Money at his home studio and later he returned the favor and played drums on my solo album.
 
"It is such a painful loss," Wilson continued, "but it also feels like Taylor has galvanized and re-energized rock and roll with so many of his musician friends and fans coming together – it’s a new renaissance Taylor and the Foo family have gifted us all.” 

This Tuesday (September 27), Wilson is set to appear as one of the many guests at the second of this month's two Hawkins tribute concerts, at Los Angeles's Kia Forum. The first took place on September 3 at London's Wembley Stadium, and featured notable performances from Them Crooked Vultures, Wolfgang Van Halen, and the Foo Fighters themselves.

For info on the tribute concert, and how to watch it, visit foofighters.com.

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Jackson Maxwell
Associate Editor, GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com

Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.