Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl undergoes arm surgery

On the mend: Dave Grohl (Image credit: Neilson Barnard - Getty)

Earlier this month, Foo Fighters announced they were having to postpone two shows due to “a band member injury.”

The Foos were due to open the Fillmore in New Orleans on February 15 and 16, but were forced to move the shows to May.

Now it’s been revealed exactly what the injury was – and it’s because vocalist and guitarist Dave Grohl had to have surgery on his left arm.

He revealed the news during a talk with Live Nation’s CEO Michael Rapino at the Pollstar Live conference, saying (via Billboard): “This is something I’ve had to deal with for a long time. It’s not the end of the world, but I did have to have surgery on my arm because I need it to pay the rent.

“I knew I had to fix my arm at some point and I went ahead and did it."

Grohl added: “It's funny having surgery because you actually get a little bit of rest. Right before they wheeled me in, the guys said, ‘Hey, we’re going to give you something that’s going to make you feel really good’ and I thought, 'I finally get to take a nap.'"

Prior to his surgery, Foo Fighters played a Super Bowl pre-show concert in Atlanta. They were joined onstage by artists including Tom Morello, Queen’s Roger Taylor and Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.