The cause of death was not disclosed.
On Friday, the band was scheduled to perform in Bogotá at the Estereo Picnic Festival, followed by Lollapalooza Brasil on Sunday, according to its website.
The show was canceled when fans were gathering at 11 p.m., according to Romeo Reyes, who told CNN he had traveled from El Salvador to Bogota for the festival.
“We were in a situation when they announced that the Foo Fighters wouldn’t perform, but they didn’t say why. About 10 minutes later, news broke that Taylor had died,” Reyes said.
He said, “No one knew the reason for the cancellation… We were all heartbroken. But like I said, no one knew Taylor was dead. We found out after about 10 to 15 minutes.”
Later, candles were placed on the main stage as a vigil for Hawkins, and the screens in five stages displayed the message “Taylor Hawkins Pour Semper”, which translates to “Taylor Hawkins Forever”.
Remember Hawkins
Foo Fighters was formed in 1994 by Dave Grohl, who was the drummer with Nirvana.
“When you have a drummer like Taylor Hawkins in your band, I don’t necessarily miss being the drummer — because I have the greatest drummer in the world,” Grohl said. “Taylor is a more technical percussionist than I am.”
In the same interview, Hawkins admitted that it took a while to find his place in the band but Grohl “never made it difficult.”
He also talked about his first musical love, the British band Queen.
“I wanted to be Roger Taylor and I wanted to be in Quinn,” Hawkins said. “I wanted to play court when I was 10 years old.”
News of his death sparked a wave of grief on social media from fans and fellow musicians.
Miley Cyrus, who is set to perform in Lollapalooza Brasil on Saturday, said on Instagram that she will dedicate her performance in Sao Paulo to Hawkins.
She also shared a photo of Hawkins playing the drums, captioning, “This is how I will always remember you.”
Singer Ozzy Osbourne spoke of Hawkins’ character, saying that “he was a really great person and a great musician.”
CNN’s David de Sola and Melissa Alonso contributed to this report.