Dave Grohl pays tribute to Beaconsfield miner Todd Russell amid energetic Sydney show
The Foo Fighters frontman had a special bond with Todd Russell and Brant Webb – and on the day of Russell’s death, he played the ballad he wrote for the pair.
Dave Grohl, lead singer of the Foo Fighters, paid tribute to Todd Russell, a Beaconsfield miner who tragically died at the age of 54. Russell had survived the infamous 2006 mine collapse alongside his colleague Brant Webb, an event that occurred 20 years before Grohl's tribute. During the Foo Fighters' Sydney concert, Grohl recounted how a record company representative had reached out to him after the incident, requesting to send Russell and Webb a note of encouragement and tickets to see the band once they were rescued.
Grohl, moved by the miners' situation, promised them beers once they emerged from the mine. He later composed the song "The Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners" for the band's 2007 album "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace." At the Sydney concert, Grohl performed the song solo on acoustic guitar, dedicating it to Russell. Russell had recently announced on social media that he was leaving the hospital to spend his final days at home, but he passed away a few days later. The Beaconsfield community honored Russell's decades of service as a firefighter.
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