For the past three years, concert photographer Andrew Youssef has battled stage four colon cancer, but despite his condition, he continued his work snapping away from the pit while chronicling the course of his ailment in a regular OC Weekly column titled “Last Shot”.
As Consequence of Sound reports in an in-depth piece, doctors recently told Youssef that he has only weeks or a few months left to live. But in the wake of such horrific news, something monumental happened.
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Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails — a band whose music brought Youssef much comfort (and one he references regularly in his writing) — became aware of Youssef and his story and reached out, inviting him and his brother to an intimate NIN show at the Troubadour in September. For the following week, as Reznor rehearsed at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, he and Youssef met for lunch every day and developed a friendship. Ever since, Reznor has made frequent mentions of Youssef both at shows and in interviews.
Recently, Youssef’s energy has diminished, and after making it to a Nov. 8 NIN show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, he was unable to see the band in Las Vegas the following weekend. But Reznor would not let his friend miss out, and called him via Facetime mid-set to say hello with a cheering crowd shouting, “Andrew, Andrew!” from behind. The frontman then dedicated the song “In This Twilight” to Youssef.
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A comment on the Consequence of Sound story described the chanting as spontaneous. “It was something special for [Andrew], for us, for Trent,” wrote an attendee of the concert at The Joint. “It was awesome.”
Watch the video below:
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