Foo Fighters Guitarist Pat Smear to Miss Upcoming Shows After Suffering ‘Bizarre Gardening Accident’

Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear has been forced to sit out a few of the band’s upcoming shows after suffering a freak accident in his garden.

Smear, 66, broke multiple bones in his foot in a mishap the band declared a “bizarre gardening accident” in a Wednesday, Jan. 7 Instagram post.

“BREAKING NEWS! In the classic tradition of rockstars having bizarre gardening accidents, Pat Smear has apparently rung in the new year by smashing the s— out of his left foot,” the band captioned the post. “This means he’ll unfortunately be missing a few shows while the multiple broken bones in his foot heal.”

The cheeky description of Smear’s accident is a nod to the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, in which the group’s drummer John “Stumpy” Pepys is said to have died in a bizarre gardening accident that’s best left unsolved.

The band — which also includes Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee and Ilan Rubin — wrote that they will “miss our beloved Pat as much as you will,” but want him “fully healed and back on his feet as soon as possible.”

Jason Falkner, who plays guitar for artists like Beck and St. Vincent, is set to fill in for Smear.

Foo Fighters included a hilarious magazine cover mock-up announcing the news of Smear’s injury, which featured him smiling and giving a middle finger to the camera while being wheeled away in his garden.

“Pat Smear Bizarre Gardening Accident!” the faux headline reads, while a joking headline on top teases, “Aliens spotted warming up for spring training!” and “2026 fried chicken & champagne diet tips.”

Foo Fighters have their first show of the new year scheduled for Jan. 10 in Guanajuato, Mexico, and are also set to play a benefit concert in Los Angeles on Jan. 14, the same day Grohl will celebrate his 57th birthday.

The band then has a show in Australia on Jan. 24, and will take a break before hitting the road again in May though the rest of the summer.

Back in 2015, Grohl famously performed while sitting in a light-up throne with a cast after breaking his leg in a fall from the stage. The throne eventually made its way to Axl Rose, who used it on tour with Guns N’ Roses, and later Old Dominion frontman Matthew Ramsey, who used it in 2019 after undergoing surgery on his leg.

“So Axl [Rose] took it out with Guns N’ Roses, then he took it out with AC/DC, and then all of a sudden I became the guy you come to if you break a limb on tour, like Thrones R Us,” Grohl joked to Classic Rock magazine in 2021.