Grohl, formerly the drummer with cult group Nirvana, was performing at a concert in Gothenburg. The Foo Fighters were midway through their second song when the incident happened. Grohl’s determination to carry on drew a flurry of reaction on social media with many fans praising the singer’s fortitude under the hashtag #MyHero.
Showbiz superstition forbids wishing performers “good luck” before going on stage. Instead, you might hear performers bidding each other, “Break a leg,” prior to taking to the boards, not, of course, with any malice intended. It’s not known if Dave Grohl received similar good wishes before last night’s concert but “break a leg” is precisely what the Foo Fighters’ lead singer did.
Margaret Rönnols, music critic with Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet, was at the concert and witnessed Dave Grohl’s fall, first hand. As Rönnols reports, the Foo Fighters had performed their first number, “Everlong,” and were halfway through their second song “Monkey Wrench,” when Grohl, running around the stage, somehow missed his step, falling off the stage on to the asphalt below, a drop of some two or three meters.
Grohl had tried to get up but it was only then the extent of his injury became apparent. Svenska Dagbladet reports that Grohl, in the course of being stretchered away by medics, took hold of a microphone telling the audience, “I think I just broke my leg. I think I really broke my leg,” as images of the stricken singer were projected onto a large screen, on-stage.
But just 10 minutes after the incident, Grohl was back on stage performing, though this time in a wheelchair. The concert continued and, from a seated position, Grohl performed “Under Pressure,” then continued with, ironically, “Learn to Fly.”
It became clear, however, that Grohl would need more substantial medical care in a hospital but the singer assured fans that he would return to the stage after treatment. He even apologized for what Le Monde termed “this unexpected break.”
And so, sometime later, the indefatigable Grohl returned to a cheering Gothenburg crowd and finished the concert with his leg in plaster.
After the show was over, the Foo Fighters tweeted an X-ray of Dave Grohl’s leg, clearly showing the fracture.
It was another classic rock band, Queen, who sang “The Show Must Go On.” That song’s lyrics are apt — mostly — to Dave Grohl’s Swedish mishap. As Queen sang, “The show must go on, I’ll face it with a grin, I’m never giving in, On with the show…”
But the immediately preceding line doesn’t quite suit Mr. Grohl: “I can fly – my friends.”
