In a new episode of his ‘Justin Hawkins Rides Again’ YouTube series, Justin Hawkins admitted thinking of asking Michael Starr to join the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Show instead of him.

The music world has been grieving for Taylor Hawkins’ untimely passing on March 25, 2022, which devastated the drummer’s family, fans, and bandmates. On June 8, Foo Fighters and Hawkins’ family decided to organize two shows in September to pay tribute to the drummer.

The first Taylor Hawkins Tribute Show took place on September 3 at Wembley Stadium in London. This concert was live streamed on YouTube and Paramount+, and Hawkins’ son Oliver Shane Hawkins took his father’s role by playing drums on the song ‘My Hero.’ The second show is planned to take place in late September 2022.

Although Shane Hawkins’ performance was probably the one that touched the audience the most, there were several other artists who took to the stage in honor of the late drummer. One of the most notable moments of the show was Justin Hawkins and Wolfgang Van Halen’s collaboration on VH classics ‘On Fire’ and ‘Hot For Teacher.’

In a new episode of his YouTube series, Justin Hawkins said that Dave Grohl called him to tell him which Van Halen songs he would play. After hearing that he would play with Grohl, Josh Freese, and Wolfgang, Hawkins thought it would be amazing. However, it turns out the singer thought of asking Michael Starr to replace him because he believed Starr was closer to David Lee Roth’s vocal style.

In the video, Justin Hawkins said the following about how he took part in the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Show:

“When Dave Grohl initially called me, he was talking about Van Halen. He told me which songs I’d be doing and what the ensemble for the Van Halen section would be: Dave Grohl on bass, Josh Freese on drums, and Wolfgang Van Halen on guitar. I was like, ‘F*ck, that’s going to be f*cking amazing. There’s no way I’m turning that down.'”

He then continued:

“I actually thought it might be good to ask my friend Michael Starr who sings with Steel Panther, to do those because he’s really great at doing the David Lee Roth vocal style.”

You can watch the rest of the video below.