‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Airs Eric Dane Tribute With McSteamy’s Best Moments

Former “Grey’s Anatomy” star Eric Dane died on Feb. 19, one week ago — and in Thurday’s episode of the long-running ABC drama, the show paid tribute to him and to his character, Dr. Mark Sloan, in a video at the end of the episode. The 65-second-long McSteamy montage was set to Tommee Profitt & Fleuries’ cover of Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars,” a song that was made iconic after being used in the show’s Season 2 finale when Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) died and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) wouldn’t let go of him. Different versions of “Chasing Cars” have been used on “Grey’s” and in its promos ever since to great effect, always to underscore an emotional event. (The full video is below.)

Dane joined the cast of “Grey’s Anatomy” in Season 2, playing a plastic surgeon and a ladies’ man — Mark, nicknamed McSteamy, was the best friend of Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) whose affair with Derek’s wife Addison (Kate Walsh) had broken up that marriage. Mark Sloan proved to be a popular character, and Dane became a series regular in Season 3. He died during Season 8, after a bunch of the hospital’s doctors were in a plane crash. Nevertheless, Dane appeared in a few more times on the show, including with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) in Season 19 when she was in a hallucinatory state from COVID, and characters who had died on the show visited her.

Dane was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2025; despite his terminal illness, he played an ALS patient on NBC’s “Brilliant Minds” in the fall, and completed filming Season 3 of “Euphoria,” on which he played Cal Jacobs. “Euphoria” will premiere on HBO on April 12.

Dane’s death prompted an outpouring of grief from his colleagues at “Grey’s Anatomy,” from creator Shonda Rhimes to Heigl to Walsh and beyond, all of whom wrote loving tributes to him on social media.

The video, with “Chasing Cars” playing, begins with Mark’s earliest appearances, when he referred to himself and Meredith as the “dirty mistresses” through his becoming a father. Mark’s advice to Jackson (Jesse Williams) from his deathbed plays over a montage: “If you love someone, you tell ’em, even if you’re scared that it’s not the right thing. Even if you’re scared that it will burn your life to the ground, you say it. You say it loud.”

Watch the “Grey’s Anatomy” tribute to Eric Dane below.