Performing covers on Instagram Live isn’t a new quarantine phenomenon. But for Pat Finnerty, his Dave Grohl-dedicated show finally caught the attention of the one person he was hoping for.
The 40-year-old Scranton, Penn.-based musician started “Grohlathon,” a 24-hour IG Live performance from his West Philly studio apartment, on Saturday (Aug. 15), in hopes he could eventually get Grohl to sing Sting‘s part on Dire Straits‘ 1985 No. 1 hit “Money for Nothing.” Before this weekend, a cardboard cutout of the Foo Fighters frontman was the closest thing he could get to the celebrity appearance he wanted so badly on The Pat Finnerty Show, per his Instagram handle, that he’s been putting on for the last five months.
“My whole f—ing life has been spent looking at Grohl,” Finnerty told Rolling Stone in an interview Monday (Aug. 17). “In high school, all I did was listen to Nirvana. And if I want to watch a documentary now, there’s Grohl. And he plays with The Beatles. He plays with Led Zeppelin.”
Then nine hours into his Saturday night stint, actor Andrew Sikking requested to join his Live while attending the Nirvana drummer’s dinner party before inviting the host himself who became the man of the hour — and of the entire show.
“What the f— are you guys doing?” Grohl asked, peering into the camera and coming face-to-face with his cardboard self on the split screen. Finnerty introduced himself to his icon and proceeded to explain the backstory and objective behind his ultimate quarantine performance.
That’s when the 51-year-old multi-instrumentalist whipped out a guitar and drum set to assure Finnerty’s wish wasn’t for nothing. “That’s it? That’s all you wanted?!” Grohl screeched back on the livestream after singing Sting’s famed intro, “I want my MTV.”
“Grohl was as cool as I knew he would be….” said Finnerty in the Rolling Stone interview about their chat and jam session, which had his phone blowing up all day Sunday (Aug. 16) for celebratory reasons. “The messages that I’ve been getting all day were, ‘It’s so inspiring what you did, because you set a goal and you achieved it.’ Like, I’m this f—ing nobody and I got to Grohl in nine hours because I believed in it.”
Catch highlights from Grohl’s surprise appearance during Finnerty’s “Grohlathon” IG Live below.
