‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Honors Eric Dane With An Emotional Montage

Following Eric Dane’s death, “Grey’s Anatomy” is bidding farewell to the late actor and paying tribute to the legacy he left behind on the hit TV series.

Dane, who played the role of Mark “McSteamy” Sloan, died at the age of 53 on Feb. 19. The actor announced his diagnosis with ALS in 2025.

On Feb. 26, the ABC medical drama aired an episode titled “(If You Want) Do It Yourself.” A minute-long montage of Dane’s time on the show played at the end of the episode.

The tribute was set to Tommee Profitt and Fleurie’s cover of Snow Patrol’s song “Chasing Cars,” which has been played several times throughout the show’s 22 seasons.

The minute-long clip began with a scene where Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) introduced herself to Dr. Sloan at a bar.

“McSteamy, right?” she asked.

“Mark Sloan,” he replied.

The montage then shifted to an awkward moment in Sloan’s history: when Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) realized that Sloan had slept with Shepherd’s wife, Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh).

Shepherd and Sloan went on to become friends, and the montage paid tribute to their bromance with several clips.

Sloan, a plastic surgeon, reflected on his career in one scene, saying, “People don’t come to me to fix what’s on the outside. They come to me to fix what’s on the inside.”

The montage also highlighted Sloan’s friendship with Dr. Torres. Along with Torres and her wife, Arizona (Jessica Capshaw), Sloan helped raise a daughter named Sofia.

Dane’s character reflected on the fragility of life in one scene, saying, “Why are you telling me to give it time when there’s no guarantee that is going be there?”

In another scene, Sloan offered some romantic advice to a co-star, saying, “If you love someone, you tell them, 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.”

At the end of the tribute, Dane’s character uttered an especially poignant line: “Don’t waste one single minute.”

Since Dane’s death, several of his “Grey’s Anatomy” co-stars have paid tribute to him.

Katherine Heigl, who played Dr. Izzie Stevens, shared a message for Dane’s wife, Rebecca Gayheart, and their two daughters.

“All the ‘I’m sorries’ and ‘my prayers are with you’ ring a bit hollow in the midst of so much pain and grief. So I will say the only thing that has ever brought me peace when I’ve lost someone I love,” she wrote.

Heigl then quoted the Robert Frost poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”

“I will never forget Eric’s gold and I will forever be grateful I got to bask in it for even a brief moment in time. Thank you for sharing him with us,” she wrote.

Dempsey reflected on Dane’s passing while appearing on Britain’s “The Chris Evans Breakfast Show.”

“Yeah, it’s hard to put into words. I feel really so sad for his children,” he said.

Dempsey also recalled Dane’s “great sense of humor” and said they “got along instantly.”