On June 12, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl broke his leg during a concert in Sweden.
“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 fucking OVER?'” Grohl wrote in his open letter, published on the Foo Fighters website.
He proceeded to go to the hospital, come back, and then finish the remainder of the show from a chair on a stage in front of a massive, crowded audience.
“What seemed like a tragedy at first turned into a triumph, and we all walked away with a new sense of appreciation for what we’ve got…” he said.
Three days later, the Foo Fighters announced that they were canceling the rest of their European tour.
To the media’s apparent bafflement, no one is really that upset as tweets praising Grohl continue to stream in despite the announcement.
retweet if you would breathe out so Dave Grohl can breathe you in
— Scarlet Sidwell (@negativecreepin) June 17, 2015
Dave Grohl is the most painfully earnest guy in rock n roll.
— ihatebrightblack (@brightblackart) June 17, 2015
@5SOS do you ever cry because you're friends with dave grohl?
— lia/pcd (@blackandirwie) June 17, 2015
as if Dave from @foofighters wasn't already the coolest MF in the world. he breaks his leg and finishes the show? shit. #LEGEND
— Rob Thomas (@ThisIsRobThomas) June 13, 2015
That’s because Dave Grohl doesn’t really fit the mold of a rock star as we know it — an egocentric, fame-obsessed, seemingly unquestionably cool figure that we all know in the back of our minds will fade away eventually. We’ve all heard of Nickelback, Korn, and Linkin Park, but will we remember them in 20 or 30 years?
(Some of us will, and that’s more than fine — this isn’t a piece telling you not to listen to music you love because I’m not about that life. Further, these comparisons are not really fair in their popularity or genre of music — it’s just that there aren’t too many rockstars or star-level rock bands anymore, which is another story entirely.)
Dave Grohl isn’t really a star — he’s a regular person who just happens to love music and happens to be really, really good at making it. He's not trying to be cool or a rock god — he just is one.
Ever since the invention of music, people have been semi-worshipping musicians: think of Orpheus, the amazingly talented lyre player who tragically lost his wife Eurydice in Ancient Greece; think of Elvis, whose popularity (rather than perhaps his cutting-edge uniqueness of style) moved rock music into the mainstream; think of One Direction, who spurs on worldwide discussion with a mere mention of Zayn returning to the band.
With the exception of worldwide discussion, Dave Grohl doesn’t fit into any of these categories. The reason that he is discussed is not because of his sex appeal or because of any scandals — it’s because of his passion for music, his sincerity, and his personality that shows it.
Grohl broke a bone and was bummed that he couldn’t play anymore — that’s not pursuing fame; that’s not trying to check off a live show to meet a quota with the record label; that’s not purposely generating media attention.
That’s true love for music, and a true love for the fans who allow him to have the best job in the world.
The problem with rock stars, or any big time music icon, is that the pool has become so dominated by business and industry members that the musicians’ loyalties are in question. This leads the questioning of the music itself — how much of a song is heartfelt and how much is created by a machine in a scientific environment? How much do music icons care about fans and how much do they care about a paycheck?
With Grohl, these questions are generally pretty easy to answer. He loves music so much that he travels across America to chronicle the sounds of the nation for fun. So much that he breaks a bone, asks his band to continue playing and returns for the rest of the show.
If we’re talking about genuineness, a little goes a long way in the music industry — it’s what the concept of music is based on, leaving a little bit of yourself with the listener.
The future of music doesn’t need more stars, more icons who can sell out stadiums with their poppy, peppy, highly mixed tracks.
It just needs musicians who care about the music more than the bullshit.
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