Around Johns Hopkins University and Union Memorial Hospital, Dr. Lew Schon has long been known as a rock star of orthopedic surgery.
But this past weekend, at Boston’s Fenway Park, the Hopkins associate professor and director of the foot and ankle division at Union Memorial morphed into a different type of rock star when he sang a cover of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.”
And the band that backed him? None other than legendary rockers the Foo Fighters.
“I don’t quite understand it,” says Schon, understandably still in shock. “I guess it’s gone a bit viral, [like] a viral infection.”
It all happened when Schon took a trip to Boston to examine Dave Grohl’s foot, after the frontman broke his leg during a performance in Sweden a few weeks back. A friend and fellow orthopedic surgeon operated on Grohl in Great Britain, and asked Schon to follow up with the rock icon.
Schon, a keyboard player and vocalist in “The Stimulators,” a band made up of Union Memorial’s orthopedic staff, and Grohl hit it off.
“He’s a really cool, energetic, and warm guy,” Schon says.
Grohl asked Schon if he’d like to perform with the Foo Fighters.
“At first, I said, ‘No.’ I didn’t think it would be appropriate,” Schon says. But Grohl pressed him, and he gave in.
Even when he showed up last Sunday to rehearse, Schon didn’t think it would happen. But the band members were amply impressed when they watched him belt out the song, complete with a few signature dance moves.
“I think they were surprised that this dude in the bow tie could put it down, this kind of nerdy doctor guy,” says Schon, who wore his signature bow tie for the performance.
Schon was a total crowd pleaser and Grohl was impressed, telling Foo fans, “Holy sh—, that’s actually my doctor. What a badass.”
A video of the performance is making the entertainment news rounds, including the likes of MTV and Rolling Stone. As for Schon, he’s back at work, juggling calls from media outlets in between seeing patients.
“I’m still the same guy I was—that’s the reality,” he says. “But then there’s this other reality. Wow, how did this happen?”