Old Dominion postponed three concert dates in February so that lead singer Matthew Ramsey could undergo leg surgery
Matthew Ramsey is taking a lesson from the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl — no matter what, the show must go on.
After the Old Dominion frontman fell on stage last year, the band was forced to postpone three concert dates in mid-February on their Make It Sweet tour so that he could undergo surgery on his leg. Since then, Ramsey has been on crutches.
“Hearing the recovery time after this procedure was a bit of a blow,” Ramsey, 41, tells PEOPLE. “I knew I did not want to disrupt our tour for that long.”
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Thanks to Grohl — who let Ramsey borrow the custom, light-up “throne” he used on tour back in 2015 after breaking his leg during a tour stop in Sweden and subsequently undergoing surgery of his own — the band is now back in action.
“So many jokes were thrown around about using Dave Grohl’s throne, finally we just decided to ask and see what happened,” Ramsey says. “I’m sure Dave didn’t know that when he created this thing, everyone would want to use it. But, it has been an honor to sit on, and more importantly, it’s allowing us to keep the show on the road. Our fans are truly grateful. We owe him big for that.”
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On Feb. 27, Ramsey performed his first show post-surgery in Georgia.
“First show post-surgery is going down with some help from our friends #davegrohl and @foofighters !!! #rockthrone #theshowmustgoon,” Ramsey captioned a picture of himself posing with the throne posted to his Instagram account the same day.
Ramsey will continue to use the throne, which was revamped with Old Dominion’s logo, for the band’s upcoming concert dates in Florida over the weekend. After that, the band — which, along with Ramsey, includes Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung and Brad Tursi — will get two weeks off for spring break before they take the stage in Wisconsin on March 28.
By then, Ramsey is hoping to be off his crutches and standing on his own — but it all depends on how well he recovers.
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In January, Ramsey told PEOPLE that the timing of his injury and impending surgery “was not ideal,” but something he needed to take care of.
“It’s not really clear what exactly I did and trust me when I tell you that I wish there was some cool story as to how it happened,” Ramsey said. “It’s been an ongoing thing. I have a few tears there in my leg. I’m just ready to handle it and get back to rocking.”
“It’s just really been weighing on me because I don’t know what the other side looks like once the surgery is over,” he continued. “I’m just looking forward to putting it behind us.”
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Ramsey isn’t the first to borrow Grohl’s throne — Axl Rose previously used it in 2016 for Guns N’ Roses’ reunion tour after breaking his foot.