A solemn moment at Accor Stadium

During Tuesday night's Foo Fighters show at Accor Stadium in Sydney, Dave Grohl stopped the concert for a lengthy on-stage tribute to Beaconsfield mine survivor Todd Russell, whose death at the age of 54 was announced the same day. Band members left Grohl standing alone on stage as a picture of Russell appeared on screen.

The 2006 request from a kilometre underground

The bond between the frontman and the miner goes back two decades. The Tasmanian mine collapsed on Anzac Day 20 years ago, trapping Russell about a kilometre below ground with co-worker Brant Webb.

• •A third miner, Larry Knight, was killed in the collapse, and the two survivors were initially presumed dead.
• •Russell and Webb were trapped in a vehicle underground, and their 14-day rescue effort became global news.
• •While rescuers drilled, Russell asked for an iPod with Foo Fighters music to keep his spirits up.

Two tickets, two beers, one song

Grohl sent the trapped pair a message promising two tickets and two beers at any Foo Fighters show once they got out. He kept his word, meeting them backstage at a Sydney Opera House show later in 2006 - the night before which he had written them a song called Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners.

What Grohl told the crowd

Grohl told the Sydney crowd that after the backstage meeting, everyone went to the bar for the promised beers, and that he got so drunk he vowed to put the song on the band's next record - which he did. Then he dedicated it to Russell.

The tribute came during the band's 16th tour of Australia in their 32-year history, one week after Russell announced a move home to "see out his days" following an illness.