This photo was taken right before Dave Grohl proved his status as an ultimate rock star. When he commits to a show, the dude isn’t kidding. He fell off the stage in Grothenberg, Sweden and broke his leg on Friday. Then he went to the hospital, received a cast, and finished the show. I’m not even a fan of Foo Fighters music, but this story makes me want to buy their tickets. For comparison’s sake: I recently went to a concert for one of my favorite musical acts. Although the performance was energetic, the show was lazy. The group skipped some songs that were on the set list, and the lead singer sprinted offstage after an hour. Maybe they had a bad night, but the audience was bummed when the lights came up. I tried not to feel bitter, but this Dave Grohl story makes me realize some rock stars do respect their audiences.
Grohl cares a lot about his fans. When he fell off stage, paramedics placed him onto a stretcher. He held onto the mic and promised to finish the show:
“I think I just broke my leg. I think I really broke leg. So look, you have my promise, right now, that the Foo Fighters, we’re gonna come back and finish the show. Ladies and gentlemen, right now I’m gonna go to the hospital. I’m gonna fix my leg. But then I am going to come back, and we are gonna play for you again. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. We are gonna do it.”
[From YouTube]
Grohl apologized to the audience for breaking his leg! His fans would have forgiven him for skipping out after this legit emergency. Most people would be bawling in pain and screaming for relief. Not Dave Grohl. He instructed the Foos to keep playing in his absence. He came back and said, “I may not be able to walk or run but I can still play guitar and scream.‘” Dude sat in a chair for awhile but eventually stood on crutches to sing, “My Hero.” Here’s a clip. The part where he starts narrating at 1:55 is awesome: “This might seem like a bad thing, but you know what? I think this might be the best night of the whole f***ing tour.” Hardcore.
Here’s the moment when Grohl fell offstage. I know Grohl refuses to refer to himself as a rockstar, but he qualifies as one. Kaiser and I were talking about this and recalled the moment when Krist Novoselic needed stitches after the 1992 VMAs. Those grunge rockers are made of tough stuff.
The next day, the Foo Fighters tweeted Grohl’s x-ray. Scary!
Thank you Gothenburg. That was amazing. pic.twitter.com/BXvuxIfVEv
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) June 12, 2015
Here are Dave’s day-after pictures in London. Dude is a trooper.
Photos courtesy of Foo Fighters on Twitter, Fame/Flynet & WENN
Not a fan of the music, but what a dude!!!!!!
Dude is bad ass!!
seriously…as Michael K put it, any performer who cancels a show for “exhaustion” after THIS should just hang their head in shame.
Leeann Rimes is somewhere going, ‘Yeah, but he didn’t have a bit of a soar throat so….’
He makes me wish I liked their music but it’s just not happening. HOWEVER his side projects like Them Crooked Vultures with Josh Homme are right up there if you’re not a Foo fanatic. Highly recommend a listen.
He seems awesome.
I loved that Vultures album and was so hoping there would be another.
Class act. Truly.
+1 ..
As if I needed another reason to love Dave Grohl. He’s the real deal.
One of the nicest guys in rock & roll.
I’m not always a huge fan of his because sometimes he comes a across as a jerk but this is pretty incredible. Go Dave!
How does he come across as a jerk?He is the nicest man in rock.My brother in law is friend’s with him and they have worked on side projects.I have never heard anyone say anything bad about him.Only Courtney Love but that crazy woman has her own agenda.
Even I can salute that. Good for you Dave. I dont like their music and I don’t really like himeither, but he always treats his fans well.
I’m not a fan of their music as it’s not that original, but Dave is a massive fan of classic rock and roll and is one of the few helping to keep rock and roll alive, and his enthusiasm and passion and respect for the greats has kept him respected for years. He cares about the music and their live performances.
Having said that, I’m just not a fan. I am a fan of U2, who had a similar mishap on stage, who are getting beyond rave reviews about their unique setup to make it an intimate setting of connecting stages spanning the arenas and their amazing drop down screen going sideways by the runway where they can walk in it. U2 also is a hungry band live and gives it their all, not resting on laurels. The Edge fell off the stage also opening night. I was terrified he broke an arm or something. After Bono’s horrible accident, I worried if I would get to see this gig with them healthy. But Edge was okay, just scrapes and cuts, but it was a bad fall. A few weeks ago their 30 plus year road manager passed away in his hotel room a few hours after one of their concerts of they think a heart attack. Hang in their U2 until I see you.
Dave is a trooper and will find a way to keep the tour going if he can as far as not canceling too many shows if possible. Keep on rockin, Dave.
Yes, keep rocking, Dave. Definitely a trouper.
Thanks, Jayna, for the U2 info. We got my 14-year-old musician son tickets to their show in a couple of weeks. It’s his first major concert and we wanted something truly memorable for him. He loves U2 and his band of teen boys does a mean version of “Vertigo.” (They also do Foo Fighters’ “My Hero.”) I love that most of the music they like goes back a few decades if not more.
Anyway the only sad thing about the U2 show is we could only afford two tickets (the prices are seriously outrageous) so my husband gets to take him!
Esmom try a day or two before when tickets are released back out in the general population. Sometime great deals can be had. I’ ve watched a stream and a lot of videos and I am so excited. The way they have the stage set up, there’s not a bad seat in the arena (only doing closed-in arenas). They are performing all across the arena with connecting stages, and the innovative drop-dop screen that is see through and they go un into it and it run parallel to the walkway is so cool also. They really tie this concert in from the innocence of their youth in Ireland, especially Bono’s as the songwriter, and into experience.
Being on the GA on the floor, you can move around easily and catch them all over the stage. In the seating is the best way to see the stunning visuals as they turn the intimate, stipped-down show, with a light bulb hanging on the stage, to wow visuals later and be able to appreciate what they’ve brought new technologwise to this concert. Bono sounds better than he’s sounded in ten years, and the boys are giving it their all. I’m glad your son gets to see it with his dad. What a memory. I hope you can go too.
Glad to see he is Alive and Well.
I really respect Dave. Not a fan of Foo Fighters but Dave is one guy who never forgets what it’s like to be a fan. He’s like the ultimate fan of other people’s music. He’s played on so many other people records it’s astonishing and is a multi-instrumentalist/ songwriter himself. So talented and uncynical. I’m not surprised he did this but they must have given him some good meds in that hospital. Incredible.
Yes, seriously, I can’t imagine how he went back and played without some serious painkillers! Most people would have gone straight to bed or the couch after something like that. 🙂
I don’t understand how he was able to transport to a hospital, have his leg x-rayed and set, and a cast put on, transported back and have made it in time to keep performing. True showmanship though.
Dedication and talent for sure. But between the being a hiv/aids denier (and appearing at benefit concerts and in a documentary for those groups) and being anti vaccination I’m just not able to able to like them. It ruined them for me.
Same goes Eric Clapton-amazing artist. Such a huge racist that I have to change the station when his songs come on.
WAIT – Eric Clapton is Racist? Really?? :o(
Damn. That dude carried his balls in a wheelbarrow!
Nice BillHicks reference 👍🏻
Someone needs to send this to country music singer Leann Rimes who cancels shows left and right due to the slightest illness. This will show her what professionalism is.
Old school badass rock’n’roll !
After binge watching Foo Fighters sonic highways … This behavior does not surprise me. This dude is a fanatic about music and always delivers.
That man can do no wrong in my eyes. He is badass in every way!!
Love Dave and FF. Completely awesome what he did. For this he’s not a hero. The missing link imo here is brave. He got fixed up and returned. He’s not lazy and loyal to his fans, but hero is a stretch.
Seeing Dave perform live is on my bucket list – as such, my SO got me tickets to the American leg of this tour on July 4th in DC – also the FF 20th anniversary tour. When I heard this news I wanted to throw up because I thought maybe they’d start canceling some shows – but man this guy is the ultimate trooper, which is why I’ve always wanted to see him. As several stated above – the Foos aren’t my favorite band or anything, but I just knew I needed to experience Dave in concert. Broken leg or not….I’m sure he’ll make the show on the 4th an amazing spectacle! Can’t wait!
dude needs to rest….
Got tickets for their show in Switzerland tomorrow but the show was canceled due to the accident. bummer! Get better soon Dave!
As if I needed more reasons to Love Dave Grohl! That is awesome.
I saw them about fifteenish years ago with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and he was amazing! I’ve been to lots of concerts, but never had seen someone actually go out into the crowd while performing. He did that and it was a pretty big and crowded concert. I’ve loved him with all my heart since that moment ❤
The Darkness do that in almost all concerts:D Yes they are still playing and on their 4th album now.
I have huge respect when artists care so much for their audience, another one is mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato who also broke her leg on stage and and yet finished the whole opera
Nah, Dave isn’t a rock star. A rock star would have summoned a helicopter and left. This is old school punk ethics. Take care of yourself Dave. You’ve already earned those stripes.
+1
Had this same break last summer. Its an avulsion fracture. Doesnt hurt much when you get the cast on it and I could actually peg leg it around without the crutches, but when that cast comes off its a whole new animal. Dave is awesome!
Love him!
My son and I went to a Flogging Molly concert on Saturday and they dedicated a song to Dave. Dave is the rock stars rock star!
I love real troupers in the rock world who go out there and carry on. I think it makes you love them that much more. It seems like too many younger acts are wimps compared to the war horses. Dave Grohl will become even more beloved because of this.
I remember when Depeche Mode had just begun their 2009 Tour of the Universe beginning overseas with only like two shows under their belt. They play stadiums over there. Dave couldn’t go out on stage in Greece at the last minute. They thought it was the stomach flu and he was taken to the hospital. People were throwing bottles at the stage furious. Fans were whispering that he had relapsed after all these years. It was shocking to learn it was cancer. They had an eight-month tour ahead of them and he wanted to delay the surgery, in complete denial. The doctor in Greece got on his knee and said: it is localized. It hasn’t broken through the wall of your bladder. Few people get this chance. We have to operate. He was operated on in Greece and the tour was put on hold for a month while he went back to NY for treatment. He went back on the road for like 100 shows, getting chemo to his bladder on the road. (My hero). I cried when I heard he had cancer, in total fear for one of my most beloved singers and bands. He downplayed it on tour and only opened up years later. It’s more remarkable to me he made it through, because Dave Gahan is all over the stage, dancing and moving nonstop, so it’s a physically demanding tour for him as lead singer especially back then at the age of turning 50.
“But the fear passed and Gahan convinced his oncologist to let him resume the tour, arranging treatment en route. “It was an uphill battle. I had numerous sicknesses, I lost my voice a lot, I blew out my calf on stage. I felt like I was always repairing something. It was the first tour I felt like: I can’t do this any more. This is fucking hard.” But, he says after a rare pause, “I was very lucky. The cancer hadn’t spread through the walls of my bladder so all the chemo was localised. It still made me sick but I didn’t lose all my hair. I think my denial about what was really going on in my life was firmly in place, as usual, but it was quite useful.”
The last night of their tour, Dave Gahan became very emotional and broke down on stage on their last song looking out over the sea of hands of like 55,000 people, realizing all that he had gone through on this tour and they had made it.
Dave Grohl Is THE ultimate. He puts 150%, even more than that, into their shows. He is unbelievable live.