What famous musicians have you met?

[Stadler]

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.

Was Squire cool?  I can see that going both ways.    Jon was very nice, and when I asked him to sign Going For The One, I said "my favorite album of all time by anyone" and he made a couple nice comments about still listening to it and liking how it came out.  It was all business, of course, and we're not friends, I know that, but it was a very pleasant and engaging experience.  He comes off as much smarter and aware than he does on stage.  There was little "hippy dippy" about it when I met him.

[HOF]

I've never met any famous musicians, aside from online interactions. Fernando Perdomo follows me on Twitter, so that's really cool. No idea why!

[Lonk]

As I said earlier in the thread, I met plenty of musicians when I used to work at Guitar Center. One time we had Jason Hook (Former guitarist for Five Finger Death Punch) doing a clinic at our store. I went into the break room to get something and he was there, and my interaction with him:

Jason: Do you work here?
Me: Yes I do.
Jason: Cool, I want come coffee and unsalted crackers. Can you go get me some next door.
Me: aaahh, no *Walked out the room*.

[Stadler]

As I said earlier in the thread, I met plenty of musicians when I used to work at Guitar Center. One time we had Jason Hook (Former guitarist for Five Finger Death Punch) doing a clinic at our store. I went into the break room to get something and he was there, and my interaction with him:

Jason: Do you work here?
Me: Yes I do.
Jason: Cool, I want come coffee and unsalted crackers. Can you go get me some next door.
Me: aaahh, no *Walked out the room*.

I bought a Marshall amp from him off eBay; you'd think he'd scribble his name on the inside, but no!     (I'm totally joking about that last part; though it WAS his amp).

[TheCountOfNYC]

Richie Castellano*
Richie Kotzen
James LaBrie
Benji Madden*
Joel Madden*
Mike Mangini
Dorothy Martin*
John Myung
Mike Mangini
John Petrucci
Jordan Rudess
Billy Sheehan
Clifford “Method Man” Smith Jr.*

The musicians with stars next to their name I met outside of a formal meet and greet, which I suppose makes it more special.

[hefdaddy42]

All current members of DT
Eric Gillette
Richard Henshall

I have also spoken to several others, but just in passing, so I don't count that as "meeting" them.

[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.

Was Squire cool?  I can see that going both ways.    Jon was very nice, and when I asked him to sign Going For The One, I said "my favorite album of all time by anyone" and he made a couple nice comments about still listening to it and liking how it came out.  It was all business, of course, and we're not friends, I know that, but it was a very pleasant and engaging experience.  He comes off as much smarter and aware than he does on stage.  There was little "hippy dippy" about it when I met him.

I don't much remember my interaction with him, but he was definitely super cool. Of the lot of them, he was the one to go and hang out in the hotel bar and drink brandy with a couple of my family members just socializing. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence with my cousin, who adored the guy.

[Stadler]

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.

Was Squire cool?  I can see that going both ways.    Jon was very nice, and when I asked him to sign Going For The One, I said "my favorite album of all time by anyone" and he made a couple nice comments about still listening to it and liking how it came out.  It was all business, of course, and we're not friends, I know that, but it was a very pleasant and engaging experience.  He comes off as much smarter and aware than he does on stage.  There was little "hippy dippy" about it when I met him.

I don't much remember my interaction with him, but he was definitely super cool. Of the lot of them, he was the one to go and hang out in the hotel bar and drink brandy with a couple of my family members just socializing. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence with my cousin, who adored the guy.

Fuck, I would kill to have been able to hav a brandy with Chris Squire.    My buddy - a sports fan, not a music fan - got to do that with Bob Lilly (Cowboys) and Steve Carlton (Phillies, Cardinals) once and it was a highlight of his life (that might be a little exaggeration, but still).

[svisser]

Mike Portnoy in 2009, and Audio Adrenaline in 2014 (?).

[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.

Was Squire cool?  I can see that going both ways.    Jon was very nice, and when I asked him to sign Going For The One, I said "my favorite album of all time by anyone" and he made a couple nice comments about still listening to it and liking how it came out.  It was all business, of course, and we're not friends, I know that, but it was a very pleasant and engaging experience.  He comes off as much smarter and aware than he does on stage.  There was little "hippy dippy" about it when I met him.

I don't much remember my interaction with him, but he was definitely super cool. Of the lot of them, he was the one to go and hang out in the hotel bar and drink brandy with a couple of my family members just socializing. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence with my cousin, who adored the guy.

Fuck, I would kill to have been able to hav a brandy with Chris Squire.    My buddy - a sports fan, not a music fan - got to do that with Bob Lilly (Cowboys) and Steve Carlton (Phillies, Cardinals) once and it was a highlight of his life (that might be a little exaggeration, but still).

And in fact, I missed an opportunity to do that around 2013, when I was a big fan, just because I'd forgotten that I could have.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I've been lucky enough to meet Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Victor Wooten, Steve Morse, Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse (and the rest of the Flying Colors band), Billy Sheehan, Andy Timmons, Virgil Donati, Tony MacAlpine, Aquiles Priester, Marco Minneman, Guthrie Govan, Bryan Bellar, Mike Stern, James LaBrie, John Myung, Jordan Rudess, Bumblefoot, and probably a few more I am forgetting...

Everyone has been super nice and generous with his time.

[Setlist Scotty]

All members past and present of DT/Majesty (except for Steve Stone)
Original lineup of QR, plus Kelly Gray and Mike Stone
RIP-era Megadeth lineup
Transatlantic w/ Daniel Gildenlow
Flying Colors
King's X
Don Dokken's 1990 solo band (except for Peter Baltes)
XYZ
Amazing Journey
Tony Levin
Yngwie Malmsteen
John Arch
Bumblefoot
Lars Ulrich
Marco Minnemann
Joe Satriani
Nick D'Virgilio
Nuno Bettencourt
Doug Aldrich
Tony Harnell
Russell Allen
Mike Orlando
Matt Guillory
Jeremy Colson
Dave Weiner

[SoundscapeMN]

I've met many, which I guess would take me some time to include, but without question the most famous was Prince which I wrote up a long winded thing about after it happened back in 2009 here

[Kotowboy]

Never met him or saw him with Oasis - but I had a long chat with Bonehead on Twitter once. Which was nice.

[Stadler]

All members past and present of DT/Majesty (except for Steve Stone)
Original lineup of QR, plus Kelly Gray and Mike Stone
RIP-era Megadeth lineup
Transatlantic w/ Daniel Gildenlow
Flying Colors
King's X
Don Dokken's 1990 solo band (except for Peter Baltes)
XYZ
Amazing Journey
Tony Levin
Yngwie Malmsteen
John Arch
Bumblefoot
Lars Ulrich
Marco Minnemann
Joe Satriani
Nick D'Virgilio
Nuno Bettencourt
Doug Aldrich
Tony Harnell
Russell Allen
Mike Orlando
Matt Guillory
Jeremy Colson
Dave Weiner

The Page/Squire/White conflagration?  What was that like?

[LudwigVan]

I've told this before, but here it is again.

I live in Great Neck, which happens to be the Long Island town that Jordan Rudess grew up in. I'd also taken piano lessons from a teacher who was a family friend of his (I'd seen Jordan's name scribbled on some old Rachmaninoff sheet music at her home).

Rudess no longer lives in the town, but as I was driving down Middle Neck Road, I spot him and his unmistakable goatee and bald pate coming out of a well-known fried chicken joint. I follow him down the block and quickly pull into the first open spot I see. Now on foot, I stalk him for another block and as he waits for a light to turn, I approach to say hello and ask for his autograph. As he signs, I strike up a conversation about my piano teacher, to which he asks about her well-being and mentions that he was friendly with her children (who are also musicians). After that, I let him go on his merry way with his greasy brown paper bag full of fried chicken in hand.

[Zook]

Oh shit, I forgot Mike Lepond. He signed my ticket and my brother's SX hat.

[Setlist Scotty]

All members past and present of DT/Majesty (except for Steve Stone)
Original lineup of QR, plus Kelly Gray and Mike Stone
RIP-era Megadeth lineup
Transatlantic w/ Daniel Gildenlow
Flying Colors
King's X
Don Dokken's 1990 solo band (except for Peter Baltes)
XYZ
Amazing Journey
Tony Levin
Yngwie Malmsteen
John Arch
Bumblefoot
Lars Ulrich
Marco Minnemann
Joe Satriani
Nick D'Virgilio
Nuno Bettencourt
Doug Aldrich
Tony Harnell
Russell Allen
Mike Orlando
Matt Guillory
Jeremy Colson
Dave Weiner

The Page/Squire/White conflagration?  What was that like?

Nope - this XYZ:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XYZ_(American_band)

[frogprog]

A lot of these were on PNAS 2014 ..
Mike Portnoy a handful of times- always very cool
Ryo Okomoto- very funny in his leather jumpsuit. " you like my big asian cock?! "
Nick D'Virgilio a few times-great guy, super nice
Neal Morse a few times- really nice and seemed genuinely interested in our brief conversations. He told me I was very wise because I reminded him to put on sunscreen!
Riverside- pleasant but definitely a language barrier. I think Mariuz was the only one who understood me
Pete Trewavas (and Mrs.Pete)- very nice in a funny British way (!)
Charlie and Diego from Haken- very nice. Me-" hi charlie I'm Steve from Philly. " him-" hi Steve, I'm Charlie from London" in his Mick Jagger London accent. (Keef)
Anekke (sp?) So very sweet and cute
Dave and Mrs.Meros- just said Hi to Dave but his wife was so nice. Invited me to sit at their table and insisted i share their appetizers!!! I talked with her for about 45 minutes.
Adrian Belew
Ted Leonard
Max, Melody and Marlene Portnoy- always very nice
Puffy,Jon Hudson and Mike Patton from FNM. The other guys were pleasant but Patton was a douche bag

Rod Mogenstein
Jonathan Mover (gtr, marillion)

[Stadler]

What was Adrian Belew like?  I feel like he could be very cool or very... not.  Not as in a dick, but I get a whiff of that sort of nerdy proggy snobbery from him.  I know what I mean, I just don't know how to put it into words. 

Also, if you care to share, how was Patton a douche?  Just weird, or rude, or something else?

[frogprog]

Adrian Belew was just a normal dude eating with his wife and two teenaged daughters. I basically only said " hi, nice to see you" and he said hello. I think he had chicken wing sauce on his face...... ( this was at the PNAS pre -cruise get together in the hotel bar with people hanging out) i was feeling a "twilight zone" vibe all night seeing all these great musicians just hanging out and for the most part i was just a fly on the wall with the exception of getting pulled in by Mrs. Meros and her mini eggrolls. So surreal and cool.


The Mike Patton encounter was also very brief. Outside the Electric Factory (philly) after the AOTY tour. The rest of the guys were cordial stopping and signing stuff and chatting. MP came through basically pushing people out of the way and blatantly ignoring everybody who was trying to talk to him. It just struck me as douchey as I was a big fan and wanted him to be more like the other(!) MP. In hindsight, he probably just wanted to get on the bus and not be bothered by anyone. Understandable. It was a great show anyway and right before they broke up so maybe he was hating the whole thing at that point.

[Stadler]

Duh!

I forgot a couple:

Gary Barden - nicest guy in the world.  Chatted for about 15 minutes with him while he had a cigarette outside the tour bus.  Really personable.
Ted McKenna (RIP) and Chris Glen - same night, on the sidewalk in front of Irving Plaza.  Chris Glen was like the court jester, running up and down the sidewalk, cracking jokes and taking pictures.   He roped Ted - quiet but polite - into several of the conversations and pictures.
Doogie White - he was sullen, but I think he wasn't feeling good.

[Setlist Scotty]

That reminds me - briefly met both Carmine and Vinny Appice. Can't even remember what show we had gone to see in LA, but some friends of mine and I grabbed a bite afterward and as we were leaving, we walked past a booth with both of them as well as (I'm assuming) their wives/girlfriends. Just a quick hello and acknowledgement.

[RodrigoAltaf]

Mike Portnoy x 4
James Labrie x 2
Jordan Rudess x 4
John Myung x 3
John Petrucci x 2
Mike Mangini
Richard Hensall of Haken
Tony Macalpine
Andy Summers of The Police
Rod Morgenstein
Ty Tabor
Bumblefoot
Derek Sherinian
Billy Sheehan
Virgil Donati
George Lynch
Everyone in the Neal Morse band
Everyone in Voivod
Geddy Lee
Alex Lifeson
Rik Emmett
Josh Todd of Buckcherry
Everyone on Fates Warning (the 2012 lineup)
Geoff Tate
Glenn Hughes
Doug Aldrich
Russel Allen
Bryan Beller
Marco Minneman
Nicko McBrain
Simon Phillips
Alex Skolnick
Stu Hamm
Mike Orlando of Adrenaline Mob

Edit: I forgot these:
Danko Jones
Steve Hackett
Mike Gilbert and Ken Mary of Flotsam & Jetsam
Tony Levin

[Lonk]

I didn't exactly "meet" him, but when I worked at Guitar Center I helped Roger Daltrey once, while he was buying some accessories 

[TAC]

I didn't exactly "meet" him, but when I worked at Guitar Center I helped Roger Daltrey once, while he was buying some accessories 

That counts!

[Grappler]

Well then, can I play six degrees of separation from a musician?

I work as an insurance agent, and we had some underwriters visit out office from Connecticut.  We all traded business cards, as usual, and this one guy's name really seemed familiar and I couldn't place it:  Arduni.

While everyone was making small talk, I did a quick google search on my phone and a lightbulb went off....Connecticut....Arduni....

• "Excuse me, are you related to Victor Arduni?"
• "Yeah, that's my dad."

I sat in a meeting with the son of Victor Arduni, former guitarist of Fates Warning, and had to explain to the rest of my and his coworkers how his dad used to play in one of my favorite metal bands.   The kid's business card is probably still in my desk drawer in my office. 



Also - I worked for an agency that wrote a policy to cover liability arising out of a book written about Dimebag.  Vinnie Paul signed the applications. 

[pg1067]

Well then, can I play six degrees of separation from a musician?

I work as an insurance agent, and we had some underwriters visit out office from Connecticut.  We all traded business cards, as usual, and this one guy's name really seemed familiar and I couldn't place it:  Arduni.

While everyone was making small talk, I did a quick google search on my phone and a lightbulb went off....Connecticut....Arduni....

• "Excuse me, are you related to Victor Arduni?"
• "Yeah, that's my dad."

I sat in a meeting with the son of Victor Arduni, former guitarist of Fates Warning, and had to explain to the rest of my and his coworkers how his dad used to play in one of my favorite metal bands.   The kid's business card is probably still in my desk drawer in my office. 



Also - I worked for an agency that wrote a policy to cover liability arising out of a book written about Dimebag.  Vinnie Paul signed the applications. 

Both parts of that are cool.

One of my first assignments out of law school was to work on my firm's response to a subpoena relating to litigation between the three surviving members of the Doors regarding touring under the "Doors" name.  My firm had represented the band back when it was active, so I was charged with going through a bunch of dusty old boxes that had been pulled from a remote storage facility.  In the course of doing so, I held in my hand the original partnership agreement for the band that had been signed by all four members.  Unfortunately, it was before the days of camera phones, and I didn't even make a photocopy.  If I were really unethical, I probably could've sold it for a bundle of money.

[Elite]

All of Haken, multiple times
All of Leprous, at least twice
Agent Fresco
Both Leprous and Agent Fresco backstage when my band played the same festival (Leprous) and opened for them (Agent Fresco)
 
Lots of random bands that have played ProgPower Europe

Not sure whether they all count as 'famous' musicians, but at least they're known in certain circles.

[RodrigoAltaf]

Do Zoom and Skype calls count as "meeting" artists in the context of this thread?

[wolfking]

Do Zoom and Skype calls count as "meeting" artists in the context of this thread?

I think you easily qualify for this thread mate. 

[ganpondorodf]

Blake Richardson (had a drum lesson with him a few years back so it was 'arranged')

Guthrie Govan

Greg Graffin

Some of the Haken guys

Some of the Moon Safari guys

Got my ticket signed by Dweezil Zappa but I was unexpectedly too starstruck to really say anything to him.

[hefdaddy42]

Well then, can I play six degrees of separation from a musician?

I work as an insurance agent, and we had some underwriters visit out office from Connecticut.  We all traded business cards, as usual, and this one guy's name really seemed familiar and I couldn't place it:  Arduni.

While everyone was making small talk, I did a quick google search on my phone and a lightbulb went off....Connecticut....Arduni....

• "Excuse me, are you related to Victor Arduni?"
• "Yeah, that's my dad."

I sat in a meeting with the son of Victor Arduni, former guitarist of Fates Warning, and had to explain to the rest of my and his coworkers how his dad used to play in one of my favorite metal bands.   The kid's business card is probably still in my desk drawer in my office. 



Also - I worked for an agency that wrote a policy to cover liability arising out of a book written about Dimebag.  Vinnie Paul signed the applications. 

I used to do some work for an insurance company that had some life coverage on Tommy Lee.  Had access to his address and info.

Some other famous people, also, but he is the only musician I remember.

[Lonk]

I think I told the story before of when I met JP, but I went to NAMM a few years ago. While there, me and my friend got invited to a DiMarzio party. I almost missed it because of a 6am flight the next morning, but my friend convinced me to go so we did. I walked in and JP was there. I didn't want to bother him so I didn't talk to him right away, plus he was talking with other people, but after some time he walked by me and my friend and we just started talking (over some glasses of wine, like the fancy gents we are). Jason Richardson joined the conversation as well. We spoke for a good hour 1/2 or so.

[Stadler]

Both parts of that are cool.

One of my first assignments out of law school was to work on my firm's response to a subpoena relating to litigation between the three surviving members of the Doors regarding touring under the "Doors" name.  My firm had represented the band back when it was active, so I was charged with going through a bunch of dusty old boxes that had been pulled from a remote storage facility.  In the course of doing so, I held in my hand the original partnership agreement for the band that had been signed by all four members.  Unfortunately, it was before the days of camera phones, and I didn't even make a photocopy.  If I were really unethical, I probably could've sold it for a bundle of money.

That kind of gives me chills.  I love that kind of thing.  You can almost FEEL the history you're holding in your hand.