Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has paid tribute to Beaconsfield mine survivor Todd Russell during a Sydney concert, months after telling a Launceston crowd the story behind a song he wrote for the trapped miners.
Russell, 54, died this week, days after leaving Launceston General Hospital to spend his final days at home.
He and co-worker Brant Webb were trapped almost a kilometre underground for 14 days after a rockfall at the Beaconsfield gold mine on Anzac Day 2006. Their colleague Larry Knight was killed.
During the band’s Sydney show last night, Grohl dedicated a song to Russell.
“Met some big heroes in life,” he told the crowd at Sydney’s Accor Stadium. “But that was a big one. So I’m doing this one tonight for Todd Russell.”
The tribute followed a story Grohl shared with fans at the Foo Fighters’ Launceston concert in January, when he explained how the mine disaster had inspired him to write a song.
Grohl said he was at home in the United States when someone from a record company in Australia called to tell him what had happened.
“They explained that these fellows were trapped and when they finally reached them, they asked for water and an iPod with Foo Fighters music on it,” he said.
The musician described the moment as “such a huge, beautiful, profound moment” for him.
“But to hear that it could make a difference in someone’s life, especially in a moment like that, really kind of hits home,” he said.
Grohl sent the men a note offering them tickets to see the band and “free beer” once they were out.
When the Foo Fighters later returned to Australia for an acoustic show at the Sydney Opera House, Grohl learnt Russell would be in the audience and wrote a song for him the night before.
“I’m gonna write something that I’ve never played before and no one’s ever heard,” he said.
After the show, the pair shared a couple of drinks at the bar, where Grohl promised the song would appear on the band’s next record.
He said he only remembered the promise after the album had been recorded, but decided he had to honour it.
“I told him I would. I gotta do it,” he said.
The instrumental, titled The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners, was later included on the band’s album.
Grohl performed it during the Sydney show last night as part of the Foo Fighters’ Take Cover Tour.
