It seemed likely, despite his heroic efforts to finish a Swedish show soon after falling from a ramp and breaking his leg, and Dave Grohl has now officially confirmed to fans that Foo Fighters are finished touring for the foreseeable future.
The band had five dates left to play in Europe this month, including two Wembley Stadium shows this weekend and a Pyramid Stage headliner at Glastonbury on Friday week.
Posting on foofighters.com, the frontman and former Nirvana drummer says:
"My doctors have advised me to lay low for a while. The most important thing now is for me to recover from the surgery, to keep my leg elevated so as to keep swelling down and prevent any infection/complication that could do long term damage. I’m not out of the woods yet, folks…
"Which means, and it kills me to say it…..the doctors have told us to cancel shows. I’m really so sorry, guys. You know I hate to do it, but I’m afraid it’s just not physically possible for me at the moment. We’re doing our best right now to work out a plan, so bear with us. You know we’re good for our word. But for now, I need to make sure we have YEARS of gigs ahead of us….
"You have always stood by our band, and we will always stand by you. Like I say at every show, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you guys. And I mean that. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And I will do everything I can to come back and give you a night to remember for the rest of your lives AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Until then…my sincerest apologies. Your friend, Dave."
Bookies' favourites to replace the Foos at Glasto are Florence + The Machine. Ms. Welch and co were already scheduled to perform before the 'Everlong' rockers, so they would effectively just be bumped up the bill.
Artists not already booked but considered to be in the running include AC/DC, Blur, The Stone Roses and The Strokes.