Watch Dave Grohl cover Motorhead and Thin Lizzy classics at Dio event

By Scott Munro
( Classic Rock )
last updated

Foo Fighter Dave Grohl turned up at the Ronnie James Dio tribute event over the weekend for an impromptu jam

Dave Grohl (Image credit: Matt Winkelmeye/LACMA - Getty)

Last weekend saw the fifth annual Ride For Ronnie event take place in California.

The celebration of the life and work of Ronnie James Dio was launched back in 2015 and raises cash for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund (opens in new tab).

This year’s gathering featured a motorcycle rally and concert hosted by Eddie Trunk and his All-Star Band – but one artist who wasn’t expected to appear was Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl.

However, he arrived unannounced just in time for a set with Black Star Riders’ Ricky Warwick and Robbie Crane, who were also joined by former Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson.

Grohl got behind the drum kit and the four of them proceeded to tear through covers of Motorhead’s Bomber and Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak.

Check out video footage below.

Musicians and fans gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday morning for a ride to Los Encinos Park in Encino, where the concert took place. Along with raffles there was also a live auction to raise money for the cancer charity.

Last year’s event raised more than $50,000 for the charity, which was set up in honour of Dio, who died of stomach cancer in 2010.

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He 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 grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.