What famous musicians have you met?

[ariich]

My favourite was sitting down and having a 30 minute chat with Steven Wilson. I still can't quite believe I did that, but I did and it was phenomenal.

Aside from that, I've had good long phone calls with Jem Godfrey and Derek Sherinian, Jem Godfrey of whom especially was fantastic.

How did you manage those?!

The only ones famous here I've met are all the members of Porcupine Tree, from post-gig stalking at some of their shows.

I also know most of the members of Haken.

[JediKnight1969]

Gregg Bissonette, after a drum clinic.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I met Kenny G in the pit at the Opeth show last month.

  Are you serious??  I never would have pegged him for being an Opeth fan.

I remember him saying that after the show. I had the same reaction as you.

I shudder at Kenny G's music...

That instantly made me remind of:




Speaking of, i've met most of the guys in:

Soilwork and Darkane.

As a musician i've met and know a bunch of local and semi-famous musician in my country but that's about it. Other than those i haven't actually met any super famous musicians.

I stood a couple of meters from Mangini when he did a clinic a couple of years ago, he was short but I never talked to him. The same thing about McBrain when he did a clinic/stand-up show a bunch of years ago although he wasn't short.

[wolfking]

Does Will Smith know who those 3 guys are?

Mad respect if he's a Soilwork fan.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Does Will Smith know who those 3 guys are?

Mad respect if he's a Soilwork fan.

Did some research and apparently Jada Smith has a metalband called Wicked Wisdom, no it's not a joke. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhNQKGq4QZw&ab_channel=BlankTV

They played at Ozzfest years ago and I think that's where the photo is taken and I guess Will was backstage. Have no idea if he's a fan but I guess Jada knows about them. Wouldn't be surprised to hear him enjoy melodic metal though, that seems to be a gateway.

[wolfking]

True, I have heard about his daughters band actually now you mention it so probably checks out.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

True, I have heard about his daughters band actually now you mention it so probably checks out.

Wife's band. 

[Architeuthis]

Jon Anderson
Alan White
 

[MirrorMask]

1995 lineup of Iron Maiden
James LaBrie, only DT member I've been face to face with

These are the big ones, then.... I'm a metalhead, what defines "famous"? should I list all bands I've seen and chatted with at local gigs? some honorable mentions...

Halestorm (kissed Lzzy Hale)
Iced Earth (I have a photo with Jon Schaffer, my only photo with a terrorist)
Shadow Gallery (their tours are a rare event so I'm glad to have talked to them)
Jon Oliva

Not so world famous but I'm glad to have talked with Virgin Steele and Rage as well, plus countless other minor bands.

[Kotowboy]

Really not many...

Dunno about met - but I used to live in Cardiff and saw all of Manic Street Preachers just out and about. AMEN did a signing instore one day...

As far as actually talking to - I went to a drum clinic with Steve White from Paul Weller's band in early 2001. Damon Minchella from Ocean Colour Scene

and comedian Al Murray were also there.

Whilst waiting to get in to see THERAPY? I walked around the venue and they were standing by the back door and I said hi.


...Oh and i've met Thomas Sangster a few times. He's mainly an actor but he plays bass too - and I met him at a gig in London. Very down to earth. Not a hint of ego

[DoctorAction]

I waved at Morten Harket once. He waved back.

Made awkward eye contact with Adrian Smith in the washing powder aisle in Tesco about 20 years ago. Took me by surprise and I was too shy to say hello.

[Lonk]

My list is a bit long because of the time I used to work at Guitar Center. Some were quick interactions, others were longer conversations. But the list of famous people I saw and didn't bother talking to them is even longer.

[cramx3]

Does Will Smith know who those 3 guys are?

Mad respect if he's a Soilwork fan.

Did some research and apparently Jada Smith has a metalband called Wicked Wisdom, no it's not a joke. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhNQKGq4QZw&ab_channel=BlankTV

They played at Ozzfest years ago and I think that's where the photo is taken and I guess Will was backstage. Have no idea if he's a fan but I guess Jada knows about them. Wouldn't be surprised to hear him enjoy melodic metal though, that seems to be a gateway.

Ozzfest 2005, I saw Wicked Wisdom perform and could see Will Smith on the side stage watching.  Even managed to get a picture of him (before digital cameras so it's a print hung in my basement).

Having gone to a bunch of ProgPowers which includes meet and greets with the bands, I've managed to meet quite a few somewhat known musicians.  Not sure what qualifies as famous.

Sons of Apollo entire band (spoke to MP), also met Bumblefoot a few other times as well
Tarja
Angra entire band
Hansi and John Shaffer
Seventh Wonder entire band (and my favorite singer Tommy Karevik)
Mayan entire band (and one of my favorite pictures!)


also met Devin Townsend, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Avatar entire band, Casey Grillo, Thomas Youngblood, Sascha Paeth, B-Real,  Haken entire band besides Diego and Ross, the two singers (Chris and Roger) of Less Than Jake, Billy Corgan

[Kram]

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson - met them in 1987 after a show on the Hold Your Fire tour in Troy NY.  Hung out after the show by the tour buses with about 20 other fans - they came out and signed autographs - no sign of NP

John Petrucci - in the bathroom of a rock club in NY circa 1991.  This is pre Images and Words.  I'm serious, we were taking a leak next to each other - I recognized him and started a conversation.  We both had gone to Berklee so were talking about a few professors we both had.  Super nice guy!

[lonestar]

Tre Cool from Green Day.

He used to be a regular at the place I cooked at in Berkeley. Total dweeb, the bartender used to joke that if he wasn't a rock star, we wouldn't even talk to him.


On top of him, and I'll just list artists I've met since fame is a subjective thing...

JP, JR, MM- Dream Theater
Steven Wilson, Marco Minneman, Guthrie Govan and the rest of the Raven Tour Lineup
All of IQ (swoon....)
All of Enchant
All of Mystery
All of Spock's Beard (Brief Nocturnes lineup)
All of Orphaned Land (All is One lineup)
Fish
Pete Trewavas (he walked by the line before the show, got mobbed lol)
Riley McShane of Allegaeon (he was working the merch stand)

[pg1067]

David Hasselhof (does he count?) -- in the beach parking lot in Seal Beach, CA in late November/early December 1983.  They were filming an episode of Knight Rider ("White-Line Warriors" from season 3), and my nextdoor neighbor talked me into driving down there.  Nothing was happening, but there was no security, so we found his trailer and knocked, and he was watching Monday Night Football with a couple guys.  He took Polaroids with the two of us, but I don't have mine anymore.

Vinny Appice -- at a drum clinic in 1985-86ish.  He signed the inner sleeve of my Sacred Heart album.

All of Queensryche and Metallica -- at a meet & greet for winners of a radio contest in 1989.  All of QR, except Eddie for some reason, signed the inner sleeve of my Warning album.  All of Metallica (including Jason) signed the outer sleeve of my Master of Puppets album.

All of Fates Warning -- in the parking lot of a tiny club in Anaheim, CA in 1989 or 1990.  All of them signed a mock of the Perfect Symmetry album (the sort of thing that used to get put up on the wall in record stores).

All of Queensryche -- at the taping of MTV unplugged.  Four of the five (including Eddie, but I'm not sure who didn't sign) signed a set list that I snagged.




All of Dream Theater (except KM) -- in the parking lot of a tiny club in Westminster, CA in 1992.  All except KM signed my I&W CD booklet.

Alan White and Tony Kaye -- in the parking lot of the Palace in Hollywood in 1993 after a Dream Theater concert.

All of Dream Theater (including KM) -- in a different parking lot in 1993.  Filled in the missing KM signature in my I&W booklet.

Mike and Marlene Portnoy -- at Foundations Forum in (I think) 1993.

Billy Greer (Kansas), maybe someone else from Kansas, Steve Howe and Alan White -- backstage at a co-headlining show in 2000.  I think I got them to sign something, but I can't remember what.

Macy Gray -- at a mediation in 2002 in which my firm represented her.

Slash -- in an elevator at my office (although we didn't say anything to each other, so I'm not sure if it counts as "meeting").  Not sure exactly when.

Rob Halford -- at a mediation in 2013 and at dinner the night before.

All of Yes -- at a meet & greet in Vegas in 2013.

I'm sure there are a few others that I'm not remembering at the moment.

[Stadler]

Bruce/Nicko
Chris Holmes
Kenny Rogers
Played video games with some guys from Roudness

 

[Adami]

I once met Stadler. That count?

[romdrums]

I once met Stadler. That count?

I disagree.

[Stadler]

I once met Stadler. That count?

I have been, technically speaking, a professional musician, so there.  Not famous, but paid for my work.


Paul Stanley (twice)
Gene Simmons (twice)
Vinnie Vincent
Eric Carr
Mark Kelly (twice)
Ian Mosley
Fish
Billy Squier
Jon Anderson
Ritchie Blackmore
Neal Morse
Eric Gillette
Bill Hubauer
Randy George
Mike Portnoy
Vinnie Appice (nice guy)
Phil Soussan
Andrew Freeman

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I once met Stadler. That count?

I heard he's big in Japan.

[Adami]

I once met Stadler. That count?

I heard he's big in Japan.

I mean, that seems a little racist, but maybe? Would have to ask his wife.

[romdrums]

I met Trent Reznor before he was famous, does that count?

[pg1067]

I once met Stadler. That count?

I heard he's big in Japan.

I mean, that seems a little racist, but maybe? Would have to ask his wife.

 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I once met Stadler. That count?

I heard he's big in Japan.

I mean, that seems a little racist, but maybe? Would have to ask his wife.

[King Postwhore]

I once met Stadler. That count?

I heard he's big in Japan.

I mean, that seems a little racist, but maybe? Would have to ask his wife.

Are you suggesting his wife gets around in Japan?

[Anguyen92]

Well, I ran into two singers in my lifetime.

I ran into Rick DeJesus from Adelitas Way.  I was outside of the smaller room in the Anaheim House of Blues back in 2019 for their show and he was out in the area chatting with people in the front of the line for a couple of minutes.  Fans had some photos and autographs and whatnot.  I didn't say a word to him since I really I didn't have a topic in mind, but he seems like a swell guy.

The other singer I ran into is a much more longer story.  I've told this story before here and I like telling this story, so I'm going to tell it again and to tell this story properly, I need to go back the day prior.  So I was in Orlando, Florida in September 2019 to be at a listening party for Alter Bridge's latest album at the time, Walk the Sky.  You get a photo with the band, hear the new album that wasn't out yet, and see them play an hour set.  Probably the time of my life or darn near close to it.  As for the actual meet and greet, it was mainly saying hi to the guys and take the picture and that's it.  There was 250 people that attended this event, so they couldn't really have a conversation with everyone that they wanted to.

The next day, I was at the airport in Orlando getting ready to fly to Raleigh to see Alter Bridge's first headlining show of their new album cycle and as I was waiting in front to get in the plane after they call in the first class guys, the last guy in line happens to be Myles Kennedy.  I said, "Hey, Myles." and he said hey back and he asked me if I had a good time last night (not sure he actually recognized me from the day prior, per say, but he probably deducted that I was at the listening party, since I probably was the only guy in the room that knew who he was).  After the plane ride to Raleigh, I really wanted to see if I can ran into him for a brief chat.  However, I was one of the last guys out and when I finally was in the terminal, I lost track of him.  Then for some reason, I thought to myself, "he could be in baggage."  So I went to the baggage section and there he was.  So I say hey to him, chatted for a brief moment, told how much of a swell guy he and the rest of the guys in Alter Bridge are, and said ty for having those solo shows in 2018 and he told me that he had a fun time doing them and wants to do them again when he's able to release another solo album out, which he was able to do this year.  No west coast shows yet though...., but that's whatever.  Maybe next year. 

Thankfully, there was a group of ladies from Australia that was also there for the Alter Bridge show that also wanted to talk to Myles and it was really kind of them to take a picture of me and Myles and I think it was the most genuine smile I ever had in a picture and that was the greatest moment of my life.

Here's the picture, yet again.

[Zook]

Mike Portnoy
Most of Delain
Yelled to Russell Allen from across the parking lot, and he responded.

[Kotowboy]

Gregg Bissonette, after a drum clinic.

Mr. "would you like a lozenge" ?

He's got one of those super-raspy voices that makes you want to clear your throat.

[Tomislav95]

Guys from Agent Fresco, Caligula's Horse and Stoned Jesus, on three separate occasions. They played in small venues and stayed in front of it after those shows, signing CDs and talking. Guys from Caligula's Horse complimented my Agent Fresco shirt (full circle?), they are actually friends because they have same manager or smtg.
Also, don't know if that counts, saw Dino Jelusic before DT show last year and we said hi to eachother. He is in Whitesnake now but I think it counts because after that same show he posted pics from backstage and he is friends with some of DT guys (did project with Jordan and MP, I think). The craziest thing is, that was in Budapest (huge arena venue), even though we're both from Croatia. Second crazy thing, also saw him on 2014 show in Zagreb, he was just kinda famous then because he won Kids Eurosong years ago

[JediKnight1969]

Gregg Bissonette, after a drum clinic.

Mr. "would you like a lozenge" ?

He's got one of those super-raspy voices that makes you want to clear your throat.

  quite short also. Prince size.

[Kotowboy]

Really?! He looks really tall in videos.

[nobloodyname]

MP era DT in 2007, I think it was. Frankly, three of them seemed seem like utter tools (I imagine they're not really) with the exception of John Myung who seemed genuinely appreciative, and MP who was engaged and funny. John Petrucci behaved like a moody sixth form poet. JR and JLB talked to their staff and ignored the fans. Flat-out rude, frankly.

Phil Campbell, formerly of The Temperance Movement, was a pleasure to meet.

Alan Devonshire is my brother's father in law; genuinely nice chap. That's one for the football* connoisseur. (Just realised this thread is about famous musicians but I'll leave this line here!)

* Football as in, ugh, soccer, for you Americans. (I say that as a huge fan of American football having been to the US about 10 times in the last 15 years to watch my beloved Browns Football is something you do with your fucking feet.)

[El Barto]

Jon Anderson

I met him with the rest of the Big Generator [I think] lineup after a show in Dallas. Squire is the main one I remember. I wasn't a fan at that point (80s MTV Yes was just awful), and I mostly wanted to book up with my girlfriend. Cool meetup, though. A decent chunk of my family was there.

Speaking of "before they were famous," I've met a Flattus Maximus and the frequent and current Beefcake the Mighty from their early bands around here. The latter was good people. I went to a couple of the house parties when he was in Rigor Mortis, and he and the late Bruce Corbitt left a lasting impression with me. Rigor would also include Mike Scaccia from Ministry, though I don't remember if I ever had any dealings with him.

[Grappler]

Slayer - 1998 lineup (Araya, King, Hanneman, Bostaph)

Korn - original lineup

Iced Earth - 1999 Touring Lineup (Barlow, Schaffer, Tarnowski, McDonaugh, Smedley)

Nevermore - 1999 Lineup (Dane, Loomis, Van Williams, Tim Calvert, Jim Sheppard)

Megadeth - 2001 Lineup (Mustaine, Ellefson, Pitrelli, Degrasso)


Slayer, Korn and Megadeth were record signings.   Iced Earth and Nevermore were outside of a small club show - the hotel was next to the bar, so we just camped out and met the bands as they came out of the hotel and walked over to the bar for their show.

Also, I never met the individual, however, I have a copy of an insurance application signed by Vinnie Paul from Pantera.  An agency I worked for at the time wrote a policy to cover a book that he released about Dime.  Always felt that was rather unique.