Dave Grohl Details Leg Break Drama In Heartfelt Message To Fans
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The singer was performing in Gothenburg, Sweden on Friday night when he misjudged a ramp jump and fell from the stage. The show was halted as Grohl received medical attention and he continued from a seat with his leg bandaged, but it later emerged his injuries were not ones from which he was expected to bounce back.
The group scrapped shows in The Netherlands and Switzerland over the weekend, and on Tuesday the Foo Fighters pulled the plug on the rest of their European tour, including dates in London and a headlining slot at the Glastonbury festival.
Hours after the announcement, Grohl released his own statement, which began, “The funniest thing happened to me the other day in Sweden!”
He added, “Two songs into our set at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, I made a mad dash to the right of the stage during MONKEY WRENCH to shred some tasty licks for the kids up front. It was a beautiful night, beautiful stadium, 52,000 screaming people… dream gig! Well… wait for it… I definitely shredded something (ZING!) Wound up feet first over the Edge (pun intended), dropping about 12 feet, dislocating my ankle and snapping my fibula like an old pair of take out chopsticks. Whoopsie daisy. Not good.
“As I lay there on my back, I just thought, ‘Are you kidding me? We haven’t even gotten to the screamy bit of the song and the gig is f**king OVER?’ So, I asked for a microphone and told the audience I’d get fixed up and come right back to finish the show ASAP. Shock? Probably. But, I couldn’t stand the thought of such a perfect night going to waste!”
“The medics poured me onto a stretcher, took me off to the side, cut my favorite pants off (so bummed) and popped my ankle back into place. I asked if I could get back onstage to finish the show, but they said I needed a cast (which was 20 minutes away at the hospital) to hold my ankle in place. So I looked my EMT, Johan in the eyes and said, ‘Well, then you’re coming up there with me right now and holding it in place until they can bring the cast here. Ready?’ He stared at me wide-eyed for a second and said, ‘OK, let’s go…'”
Grohl goes on to reveal the cast arrived on schedule and he completed what he calls “the single most bizarre Foo Fighters show in the entire 20 years of being a band” with his leg properly bandaged.
The rocker was told he needed surgery to fix the break and flew to London for an operation on Monday, June 15th, adding, “Operation went well. Had a great team and nice stay in hospital. Good curry, too! Thank you to everyone involved… So here I am, recovering with 6 metal screws in my leg, thinking about a lifetime of holding up TSA (airport security) lines from here to Kalamazoo.”
Admitting he’s not “out of the woods yet”, Grohl continues, “My doctors have advised me to lay low for a while. The most important thing now is for me to recover from the surgery, to keep my leg elevated so as to keep swelling down and prevent any infection/complication that could do long term damage.
“The doctors have told us to cancel shows. I’m really so sorry, guys. You know I hate to do it, but I’m afraid it’s just not physically possible for me at the moment. We’re doing our best right now to work out a plan, so bear with us. You know we’re good for our word. But for now, I need to make sure we have YEARS of gigs ahead of us…
“You have always stood by our band, and we will always stand by you. Like I say at every show, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you guys. And I mean that. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And I will do everything I can to come back and give you a night to remember for the rest of your lives AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Until then… my sincerest apologies.”
And poking fun at Kanye West, who was to join them as a co-headliner at the Glastonbury festival in England later this month, Grohl signed off with, “PS… Kanye… Imma let you have this one.” The line is a reference to what the rapper said to Taylor Swift as he interrupted her Best Female Video acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
