Foo Fighters frontman Grohl honors Todd Russell in Sydney — The Guardian

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl honored the memory of Todd Russell — a miner who survived the collapse at the Beaconsfield mine in Tasmania — during the band’s concert in Sydney, Australia. The performance at Accor Stadium on Tuesday coincided with news of Russell’s death at the age of 54, The Guardian reports.

Connection to the miners’ rescue

The collapse at the Tasmanian mine occurred on ANZAC Day 20 years ago. Todd Russell and his colleague Brant Webb were trapped about a kilometer underground. They were initially believed to have died. A third miner, Larry Knight, was killed in the accident.

Russell and Webb were in a vehicle underground, and the operation to rescue them lasted 14 days and became global news. When the miners were asked what items they needed, Russell requested an iPod with Foo Fighters music to keep himself going during the loud drilling work.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

A song about the Beaconsfield miners

According to Grohl, while the miners were still underground, he sent them a message that after their rescue, two tickets and two beers would be waiting for them at any Foo Fighters concert. The musician later met Russell and Webb backstage at a 2006 concert at the Sydney Opera House.

On the eve of that meeting, Grohl wrote the composition Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners. At the concert in Sydney, the Foo Fighters members left him alone on stage, while a photograph of Russell appeared on the screen. Grohl recalled meeting the miners and said he was dedicating the performance of the song to Russell.

A week before his death, Russell said that due to illness, he was returning home to spend his final days there.