Chapter Text
Twenty years ago, a musical legend was born in the form of what many consider to be one of the greatest bands in history - Seattle Grace.
Ten years ago, three members replaced, they would play their final show as Seattle Grace Mercy West on the 24th of August in their home city of Seattle.
The band dominated music and popular culture for a decade, topping the charts and having fans all over the world. They released three award winning albums as Seattle Grace and two as Seattle Grace Mercy West.
The reason for the band’s demise has been long speculated - the death of their drummer, Mark Sloan, the merge with what was once their opening act, Mercy West, the loss of further members and the public, messy divorce and custody battle between lead singer, Arizona Robbins and keyboardist, Callie Torres are among the many theories for what caused their downfall. No member has ever gone on record about what happened.
Until now.
Seattle Grace : An autopsy for the greatest band in history -
Seattle Grace was started by two best friends - Derek Shepherd and Mark Sloan. They were later joined by Callie Torres, Meredith Gray and Cristina Yang. While most of the world knows their front-woman and lead singer to have been the beloved Arizona Robbins, this was not always the case.
Interviewer: So, you and Mark started the band?
Derek Shepherd (lead guitarist/male vocalist for Seattle Grace, now a film director): That’s right. We grew up together, he was very close with my family. We used to play together in my parents garage, him on the drums and me on my guitar. Sometimes my sisters would join in and the music would just bring us all together. Mark had a way of doing that, making people closer.
Interviewer: When did you decide to get serious and start the band?
Derek: We had just graduated college and neither of us were sure what we wanted to do. Mark had started seeing some girl who turned out to be a lot more than just some girl.
Interviewer: Callie Torres?
Derek: Right.
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Interviewer: So, you were the one who came up with the idea for a band?
Callie Torres (keyboardist for Seattle Grace and Seattle Grace Mercy West, now a high school music teacher): I guess you could say that. I met Mark at a party and we hit it off immediately. He, Derek and I were just messing around with the idea at first. I came up with the band name and suggested we hold auditions, that’s all.
Interviewer: How did you know when you’d found the right members?
Callie: You just know, I guess. We held auditions a few weeks later and that’s how we found Cristina and Meredith. They came to auditions as a pair and we just knew. Plus, Derek was immediately smitten.
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Derek: What can I say? It was love at first sight, for the band and for me.
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Interviewer: Why did you audition for the band?
Cristina Yang (bassist for Seattle Grace, now a published author): I was bored, it was my second year of college but I wasn’t really feeling my major. Meredith saw the flyers and thought it would be a nice way to blow off some steam. We both loved to play and we were trying to be all cool and rebellious against our mothers.
Interviewer: You and Meredith are close?
Meredith and Cristina were rarely seen apart during Seattle Grace’s glory days, often paired in interviews and stated to be the closest of any of the band members.
Cristina: We were. Not so much anymore, I guess.
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Interviewer: Did you join the band because of your mother?
Meredith Grey (Guitarist for Seattle Grace and Seattle Grace Mercy West, now an established solo artist): No. It was the opposite.
Meredith Grey’s mother was world-famous musician Ellis Grey who wrote eight albums and won two Grammys before she retired and passed away fifteen years ago.
Interviewer: How so?
Meredith: I loved music because of my mother but I joined the band, a lame little garage band, to prove that I could do this without my mother. I wanted to start from scratch without the burden of being Ellis Grey’s daughter. I think I did pretty well all things considered.
Interviewer: How did you feel about the band?
Meredith: I loved it. I still love it. I’ve always had a hard time getting close to people, letting them in but that band was my family. In many ways, they still are.
Interviewer: When did the band start to feel complete?
Meredith: It didn’t feel right until after about six months when we got rid of our original lead singer.
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Interviewer: Do you have any regrets about leaving Seattle Grace now that you’ve seen how much of an impact they’ve had on the world?
Erica Hahn (original lead singer of Seattle Grace, now a cardio-thoracic surgeon): Not really. I like my job and my life now. Those guys were and still are a mess.
Interviewer: What do you mean?
Erica: They were all super close which seemed nice at first but it was kinda weird to be honest. One wrong move and they’d turn on you instantly. Sometimes there’s such a thing as being too loyal.
Interviewer: So, why did you leave in the end?
Erica: Because of Callie Torres.
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Interviewer: What happened between you and Erica?
Callie: We were pretty good friends, best friends even, for the first few months of the band. Eventually, it escalated into more than friendship. At the time, I was extremely closeted, we both were. She didn’t get along well with Cristina or Meredith and she got along a little too well with me. At some point, it just blew up in our faces. We had a fight and she broke up with me which meant she was leaving the band.
Interviewer: Was that a tough pill to swallow?
Callie: It definitely didn’t help with my self-discovery journey, if that’s what you mean. But, as for the band, I think we all knew we could do better. Erica was talented but the chemistry just wasn’t right.
Interviewer: How did you find her replacement?
Callie: Derek found… her.
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Interviewer: You brought Arizona into the band, correct?
Derek: Sure did.
Interviewer: How did you find her?
Derek: She was a friend of my sister. I mentioned to her that we were in need of a new singer and she said she had just the girl. I was sceptical at first, we all were, but when Arizona walked into the garage- well, actually, she skated into the garage, it just clicked.
Interviewer: She was the missing piece?
Derek: Exactly. We finally had a real band.
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Interviewer: You were the last member to join Seattle Grace, was that intimidating at all?
Arizona Robbins (lead singer/songwriter of Seattle Grace and Seattle Grace Mercy West, now an award-winning solo artist): Of course but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Interviewer: You heard about the band through Derek’s sister, is that right?
Arizona: Yes. Amelia and I were close friends, we still are in fact. We actually dated briefly too before the band, I don’t think I ever told Derek that. One day, she came over and she told me about her brother’s band that was in desperate need of someone to step up. I just wanted to play music, so I thought why not?
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Callie: Honestly? We were nothing without Arizona.