“When we lost Taylor, it was very painful for me… I'll be honest, I didn’t pick up the guitar for about a year”: Dave Navarro finished an album with Taylor Hawkins – then he lost his friend, his band and his love of guitar playing

Dave Navarro has revealed he and Taylor Hawkins had finished recording an album together before the Foo Fighters drummer passed away – and the loss was so painful for the Jane’s Addiction guitarist that he didn’t play guitar for a year.

Last month, Navarro finally returned to onstage action with Jane’s Addiction, having been sidelined for three years following his battle with Long Covid.

The electric guitar hero came down with the condition back in December 2021, mere months after he launched new supergroup, NHC, with fellow Jane’s Addiction bandmate Chris Chaney, and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

The band played live a handful of times together – including one occasion where they were joined by Pat Smear – but the trio continued their collaboration in the studio, where they recorded an entire album together.

However, Hawkins passed away suddenly in March 2022, and Navarro was so devastated by the sudden news that he didn’t play guitar for a long, long time.

In a new interview with Guitar World, Navarro was asked how his Long Covid battle impacted his guitar playing, responding, “If I'm being perfectly honest, I just completed making a record with Taylor Hawkins and Chris Chaney.

“We mixed and mastered it, and then, we lost Taylor. That was in the middle of Covid, and it was actually very painful for me to pick up the guitar after that.”

“I'll be honest – I didn't pick up the guitar for about a year,” he continues. “And because he [Taylor Hawkins] was such an inspiring artist… Not only was he a phenomenal drummer, but he was also an amazing songwriter and lyricist, and he was just one of those humans that everybody loved. Everybody loved him.”

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A year after Hawkins’ death, Navarro – who was housebound with Long Covid at the time – slowly got back into the swing of things, and found himself returning to the instrument.

“For the first year after losing Taylor, I didn't play for a long time. Then, about a year into it, I picked up the guitar, started playing some cover songs, and just kind of got used to the instrument in my hand again.”