Dave Grohl Pays Tribute to Beaconsfield Survivor Todd Russell in Sydney
Dave Grohl interrupted a Foo Fighters show in Sydney on Tuesday night to honor Beaconsfield mine survivor Todd Russell, who died aged 54. He recalled the band's 2006 link to the trapped miners and played The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners solo on acoustic guitar.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl stopped the band's Sydney concert on Tuesday night, November 11, 2026, to pay a foo fighters todd russell tribute to the Beaconsfield mine collapse survivor, who died this week aged 54.
Grohl performed The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners solo on acoustic guitar. The instrumental track appears on the band's 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace.
The US band is touring Australia for the 16th time in its 32-year history. Band members left Grohl alone on stage as a picture of Russell appeared on screen at Accor Stadium.
"I've met a few heroes in my life but that was a big one, so I'm doing this one tonight for Todd Russell," Grohl told the crowd.
Grohl said a record company contact called him during the 2006 rescue to ask if he knew about the mine collapse in Tasmania. The trapped men had asked for water "and an iPod with Foo Fighters music", he was told.
He asked the label to send the men a note, with an offer of tickets to a Foo Fighters show and beers once they were out. He kept the promise. Grohl met Russell and fellow survivor Brant Webb backstage at the Sydney Opera House show later in 2006.
He wrote the song in his hotel before that show. "Afterwards we all went to the bar and we had the beers I promised, and I got so drunk I promised I'd put it on our next record," Grohl said. "And I did. I'm glad I did."
The Beaconsfield mine in Tasmania collapsed on Anzac Day 20 years ago. Russell and Webb were trapped a kilometer below ground in a vehicle. A third miner, Larry Knight, was killed.
The pair had been presumed dead. Their 14-day rescue became global news, and Russell asked for the iPod to keep his spirits up while loud drilling went on above them.
Russell announced on social media last week that he was leaving hospital care to spend his last days at home with family. He died days later. His local community in Beaconsfield praised his decades of service as a firefighter.
