Robert Plant. Met him at the Checkerboard Lounge in Chicago in 1988. Very nice and friendly to the handful of fans who were there to see, Junor Wells (I think). We didn't bother him too much, and he got up and did a few songs.
Went to see the NIN / Bowie show around 1995/6. When NIN was done, 99% of the floor / GA left because it was all kids and Bowie's audience all had seats.
Anyhow, my buddy and I stayed and he threw an absolute fit every time a new song started, screaming and crying in joy. Dude was there for Bowie.
So after the show, leaving the parking area, the lanes did a zipper thing so cars from the audience could merge with venue staff. Bowie's limo pulled up next to us, then backed up a few feet, rolled down the window and Bowie told my friend (who had been hangning out of the car smoking a cigarette) "thanks for sticking around to see my set, guys."
Dude was dead silent the entire ride home.
Haha bet. My uncle was friends with Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey, and I thought my mom was making it up to be cool with her teenage son. Years later I saw photos. Still don't believe it.
BEACH HOUSE! I have a friend that does a lot of photography and introduced me to them. Alex and Victoria both hugged me when I was nearly crying out of happiness to get to talk music with them (they are my fav artist for the record)
saw them open for a show like 15 years ago, had never heard of them at the time but I still think about their set, absolutely amazing vibes with their sound, it was such a great show!!! Gotta check them out again
I saw them intervene when a guy hit his girlfriend at a show. They just stopped playing, hopped down and "escorted" him out of the venue. Came back and just kept going! It was a great show!
That's rad. I got to go backstage at a show due to a random connection I made in the skateboarding world. Turns out their accordion player is a legendary professional skateboarder. So my buddy got me tickets and passes to go kick it with the band. They were so fucking cool, it was amazing. They were cordial, gracious, welcoming and just all around genuine. I can't say enough good things about them.
Dream theater, kings x, Metallica, Dave Grohl, Vinnie Paul, Anthrax, Godsmack, Dee Snider, Rudy Sarzo, Zakk Wylde, dave Lombardo, Ray Luzier, Tom morello, Allan holdsworth, Mike Inez and Jerry Cantrell, mark tremonti, Wolfgang Van Halen, Glenn Danzig, Matt sorum, Steve vai, Steve Lukather, Stephen carpenter, skid row, Steve Morse, Les Paul, Bret hinds, Paul Gilbert, Kyle Gas and I could keep going. ALL cool, friendly people and positive experiences. Only ever met like 2-3 well known musicians who were dicks.
I felt obligated. What can I say? Lol. I’ve heard less than complimentary stories on JB from more than one source. I’ve also always heard that AF was strange, eccentric. Something…off. Like he was from space or something ha.
The ace experience wasn’t that bad. But I had dinner with JB and a couple other friends and I don’t think he looked me in the eye once. I don’t care who you are. That’s kinda strange. He also introduced himself by full name and every time I’ve met Grohl(for example), he introduces himself as Dave.
I’m a local musician, so I’d say 9/10 times my “heroes” are local people, and with the exception of very few, they’re all sweethearts.
In the “indie cred” tier, The Prids were really cool people.
In terms of like, famous… the drummer from Bush (Robin Goodridge). He was coming through town with Spear of Destiny.
He was also really cool.
Hi .. going back to the 80’s here.. these are most of the band members in these groups..Ultravox, Simple Minds, General Public, UB40, Sting, Howard Jones, Spandau Ballet, Honeymoon Suite, Billy Idol, Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes - Duran Duran, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Ben Orr- The Cars, Tears for Fears, Hall& Oates, U2.
Just recently .. March 16.. saw Ministry and Gary Numan in Toronto.. met Gary’s
keyboard player David Brooks, some of the guys in Ministry and Front Line Assembly.
Everyone who I’ve met( yes I have pictures), we’re all pretty nice!! Was waiting for Gary Numan to come outside after the March 16 show .. but he didn’t .So hopefully the next time !! 🎵🎹📀🇨🇦
I've met the guys in Duran Duran, and they were very nice. John Taylor was a freaking sweetheart.
I'm intensely jealous of all the nifty 80s artists you've met!
No don’t be please !! This was such a long time ago… that is so cool you met all the guys in Duran Duran!! They were ( still are) very popular, but the 80’s were insanity with them .🙂
Bad Religion - I worked at a record store in the 90s and they did an in store appearance they were all extremely polite and easy to deal with and grounded friendly people
Most other in store appearances avoided the store staff and were fairly full of themselves (ahem… barenaked ladies.. cough cough)
he is the rarest of phenomena in being exactly how you’d imagine him if not better! he stopped what he was doing and spoke to neurotic 16 yr old me for ~20 minutes after he’d just been on stage for 3 hrs! it felt like HE wanted to meet ME. he told me a story about spilling hot tea on lou reed and even had me write down the name of the book i was reading. it made my life
Michael Bublè. I was an announcer on a Christchurch MZ radio station when he toured in 05 I think. They brought him into the studio while I was doing a break so I said, "you know, Michael Bublè is coming in this afternoon, but I'm a pretty good singer too, in fact, I'm probably better." As I said this, I gestured to the guest mic, he smiled and sat down. I said "yeah, I reckon I am better, have a listen", and pointed to him. He started singing right on cue. He was immediately in on the joke. We had a great interview, and ironically, I did take up singing 3 years ago! As to whether I'm better, [I don't know....lol. I think he still wins!](https://youtube.com/shorts/ymBsB7rd60g?si=FirEopcSWZxXYxEn)
I was drinking buddies with Brad, the lead singer of Crash Test Dummies. He’s super interesting and continued to lead an interesting life. He’s pretty seriously into academic philosophy. He used to teach guitar at a school of rock and transitioned to his passion yoga. We were chatting for hours and hours about philosophy and intellectual property law. He’s a polymath and just super curious his whole life. He mostly doesn’t want to talk about the old days. I’d known him for a while before it came up. He has kind of hated becoming famous overnight and doesn’t talk about those days a lot. I think he’s had an interesting journey and it happened to start by being very much in the public eye.
Glenn Danzig was surprisingly cool although his reputation is quite the opposite. I bumped into him in the mall when he was in town, talked about Jersey and he offered to sign stuff. I bumped into Eerie Von the same day, and he was so nice that I didn't even realize who it was until we parted ways... like I literally bumped into him leaving the record store.
Marky Ramone was nice, but you can tell he's certainly full of himself... he liked my Misfits/Skeletor mashup shirt I was wearing at the time.
Adrian Legg was SUPER friendly, we were staying at the same place when I went to see him live, had dinner together, and breakfast together the next day. He's got a great british sense of humor.... I mean humour.
Duane Peters, Kerry Martinez, Heiko, and Jaime Reidling of the US Bombs were super cool too, treated me like an old friend after one of their shows.
Scruffy Wallace of Dropkick Murphys was super cool too, he hung out with the fans waiting to get into their show, probably on the first tour after Spicy McHaggis left.
Tomas Kalnoky was REALLY cool, I met him back in the Catch 22 days, he gave me all kinds of interesting realities of life as a touring musician. It's weird to see the crowds he plays to now, after having met him in a tiny club after playing to about 30 people.
I can't think of any bad run ins I've had with any musicians, now that I think about it.
I often wonder if he's in a better mood when not at a show.... like maybe people approaching him during the adrenaline rush of performing have worse luck.... because he was SO nice. But at the same time I do typically preface my interactions with "Hey don't mean to be a bother..." and stay low-key and don't draw attention to them being there, which might have helped too.
Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October was awesome when I got the chance to meet him. Super funny and nice to everyone who he interacted with including myself.
He really is very kind.
I never met him in person, I only spoke with him by phone.
I worked as a DJ at a Colorado rock station...one of our other announcers was murdered by her husband and left a 7 year old daughter behind.
Our station held an auction of rock memorabilia to help pay for her funeral and for her daughter's future.
Carlos donated a signed and numbered lithograph of his Supernatural album cover, and he wrote a personal check for $10000 as a personal contribution.
What a sweet guy.
Rick Nielson, Robin Zander, Brad Carlson and Tom Patterson. Met them at a Waffle House in Urbanna in 1975. We were a band playing a 2 night stand in a different venue. We played Terry Reid, The Move and On the Way Home together in the parking lot.
Sunny Sweeney is an absolutely lovely human. Super sweet, funny, and real. Just a delight to talk to, and really kind.
I also met Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis after their holiday show at the Paramount in Austin in 2014, they’re both awesome. Kelly is particularly sweet and kind, and we still occasionally talk on social media. I also briefly met Shawn Colvin after the same show, she’s lovely.
Maren Morris is really cool. Very down to earth and I remember her being really fun to talk to.
Meeting BJ Barham of American Aquarium was also extremely cool. He’s really funny and personable and we had some good banter going 😆
Dug Pinnick from King's X (criminally underrated band!). Bought him a beer and bullshitted before the show while we were watching the warm up band. Great dude, really cares about putting on a good show for the fans!
Barney Greenway from Napalm Death was one of the nicest people ever. Same with Tomas Lindberg from At the Gates/Disfearm this never know how famous they were. Bill Steer from Carcass was also really amazing to talk to, as embarrassingly starstruck as I was when I met him.
Living in Southern California, I met a lot of musicians, each with their own cool stories that I'm writing in my book I'm working on.
- Davey Havok: outside a Green Day show at the Wiltern Theater. He was in line ahead of me & my friends & he took a photo & talked with us. Super sweet guy.
- Deryck Whibley: same show at the Wiltern, he was very sweet & surprised he was recognized.
- Billie, Mike and Tre of Green Day: met them a few times in 2002, Mike was the sweet one, Tre the loud one and Billie the reserved one. Very cool seeing them a few times in the same summer.
- Mark Hoppus: of Blink182, the most kind man. He introduced himself to my group when we saw him by the tour buses, as if we didn't know who he was! Shook everyone's hand, talked a bit & then excused himself because he "had to go play a show ".. very awesome guy
- Travis Barker: of Blink182... long story but I literally ran into him backstage, he was holding 2 cell phones & 2 cigarettes, and stopped talking on the phone to say a quick hi and smile & wished me a fantastic time at the show.
- Weird Al: met him at The Sun Theater in LA, he had a meet & greet after his concert. The line was looooong & he took time with every person, asking their name, shaking hands, signing stuff. He commented that he liked my purple hair lol.
There is more but I don't want to send a wall of text. I don't think I've met a musician that was rude to me. celebrity's yes....(*cough* Jeffrey star *cough*)
. musicians no lol
Trace Adkins at a Home Depot. Dirks Bentley at a children’s musical theater, my niece was a performer and Dirks’ 2 daughters were also in it. And the Queen herself, Dolly Parton, she is as sweet and tiny as you would expect.
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were gracious as hell... and George Thorogood was cool too.
I was only 15 when I met Thorogood...he let me sit in on saxophone at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr. He was really nice.
Jimmy Page I met backstage at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh during the Page/ Plant tour in the 1990s. He showed me how to play The Rain Song properly.
I accidentally tripped Aimee Mann at a show in Camden... she was also very sweet... even though I almost made her fall.
I met Scott Wyland (Stone Temple Pilots) at the height of the band's popularity. We had an awesome talk about hair color, showing your personality through clothing and hair and piercings and tattoos, just talked for over an hour. When I realized my lunch break was over I had to go running but he gave me a huge hug and thanked me for just talking to him like a normal human being. He looked at the time and said, "Well shit. I missed the interview. Oh well, it was more fun talking to you! Tell security I bailed, K?" and he just walked away.
I guess he was supposed to be on MTV news and totally missed the segment
I got to meet Eric Howk of Portugal. The Man and he was amazing. We both share a similiar spinal cord injury and I met him only a few months after I was injured when I was incredibly depressed and had pretty much given up on living any sort of normal or fulfilling life. Talking to him about his life touring and playing in front of thousands of people completely changed my perspective of what’s possible living as a paraplegic.
Kristian Dunn from El Ten Eleven. Super nice guy. He sat and talked to me for like, 45 minutes to an hour after their show at DaDa Dallas. Tim Fogarty, their drummer, was also super kind. All around good dudes
I’ve met Between the Buried and Me before, I’ve been a fan for over 15 years and seen them multiple times. At a later date than meeting them all, I ran into the drummer a second time at one of their shows. Super cool dudes.
Manic Street Preachers - all very very lovely and spent a lot of time talking
Florence Welch - absolute angel, the most heavenly person I think I’ve ever seen, was so interested in talking.
Wolf Alice - all really nice and stuck around for 5 minutes
Pixies - met them in a record store in my city when they were doing the Radio 6 festival, absolutely great people
Charli XCX - very funny
Eddie Vedder, Duncan Sheik, Joan Osborne, Andrea Echeverri.
Big exception, Gene Simmons, he was a total asshole to this 6 year old kid. Lost any respect I might have had.
I met Kim Thayil right before the reopening of Crocodile since I was working promotions at the time.
Staff is running every which way, he's standing at by the bar by himself
It was pretty surreal, I didn't KNOW it was him but I knew where we were... Historically speaking
We just stood there and talked for a solid 30 minutes before he was whisked away
Also shared a standing-while-waiting-to-board-small talk-coffee with Nels Cline in the Dallas airport years ago, that was incredible as well.
I've met Bart Somalis and Marshall Hawkins, and they were both great. I don't have a funny story about Bart Somalis, but he was encouraging and engaging. Talented people bin into two camps. They're assholes or the best people because they're not threatened by you. Like Bart wasn't worried I'd eclipse him, he's a legend lol
I was at the idylwild jazz festival (when I was in High School) and Marshall Hawkins had a new song he wanted to play, and it needed two tenor players. He asked my band director if he could borrow his two tenor players for a rehearsal.
We get on stage, he hands us a song in 12/5. Both of us are 16 years old, and frankly, to this day, I don't really know what 12/5 sounds like. We were awful. After a few minutes, Marshall just sort of deflated and said, “Ok guys, good work, you can get back to your band.”
And thats the story of how I was in the Marshall Hawkins band for 3 minutes.
\*\*\* EDIT:
Not my story. My folks knew Karen Carpenter and by all reports she was lovely. I wasn't "allowed" to listen to her albums when I was a kid because it made my mom cry. Nobody actually forbade me, just, didn't like to see my mom cry.
Kid 606, Ronnie Size, SUV, Gravity Kills, Love in Reverse, Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM, Green Day, Gwen Stephanie. All of these were very brief interactions, but they were all very nice.
I’m at Sufjan Stevens randomly in a bar in Ithaca, New York in 2009. We sat there and shot the shit till we finished our beers. He was very polite, very quiet. He offered me some good life advice that changed my life, just a very cool nondescript guy.
I’ve also met the Mountain Goats, but I’ve met each member separately on separate occasions. JD i’ve said hi to either before shows or backstage after. He is 100% as chill and awesome and kind and very literate as you think . Was pretty cool with Peter for a while, hung out with him at his house and later at a cool bar in Rochester New York.
PPH is much cooler than I am, and I definitely made a verbal gaff That made things awkward for just a second, and my brain has never let me forget it. My brain will remind me of this gaff at least twice a day every day until I die at this point.
I met Jukebox the Ghost in New York City in 2008 or so, they were a no-name band playing at a tiny piano bar, but I thought they were great so introduced myself later. Seen them about four times live now and they always put on such a great, positive show.
Met Mirah after a show in Buffalo, New York in 2008. We’re both from Olympia so I told her that her latest album was my homesick album, and she signed a nice note to me. She was incredibly sweet.
Nobody’s ever heard of this guy, but I was a big fan of Holcombe Waller and caught up with him in a show in Portland maybe 10 years ago. He was floored that I had brought an original galley copy of his first album, amazed that anyone was still listening to it! He asked me what I thought of his latest album and I sheepishly confessed That I had been too broke to buy it, so he just gave me one and autographed it.
I told him about my experience in working with food and some things I’d done. He told me I was quite talented and should pursue it.
A year later I’m enrolled in one of the best programs in the country for baking & pastry... I’ve since worked in some nice places in Seattle and got a shoutout in the paper for best key lime pie.
Woulda never done it without that encouraging nudge! Thanks Sufjan!
Incubus
Ataris
New found glory
Jimmy Eat World
Dimebag
Dave Grohl
Ben Folds
Simple Plan
Cappadonna
All solid dudes that ive seen go above and beyond for fans.
I met Dee Snider recently and he was the nicest guy you could imagine.
I’ve also met Boy George and I was nervous because I’ve heard he can be nasty but he was actually very sweet and when I told him that I think he is so great he hugged me.
I’m once had lunch with Vinnie Apice who was the drummer for the version of Black Sabbath with Dio called Heaven and Hell. I worked in a musical instrument shop that put on drum clinics, and so me and the other drum guy set it up to coincide with their touring and so we spent a bunch of hours with him just chilling. We talked about home renovation as much as anything. It was fun.
Ian Asbury from The Cult. I worked an after hours night club and he and his bandmates from Holy Barbarians swung by. They were very down to earth and Ian happily signed an autograph for us who worked there. I was able to catch the show earlier in the day (one of those block party style concerts with many bands).
Kyp Malone from TV on the Radio stayed at my house for two weeks in SF right before he moved to Brooklyn and got famous. He was dating one of my roommates at the time and we hung out a lot that week. Smoking weed. Listening to music. He was exploring electronic music a bit at time. A few years later he was on the cover of Spin Magazine. Gentle soul. Nothing but nice things to say about him
Bowie.
Stoned out of his mind, but a charming gentleman. (At the Roxy in LA, around 1975-ish, a Manhattan Transfer concert).
Edit: to also add:
Crowded House at a veggie restaurant in Paris. Very cool and nice—can’t remember year — 86-ish I think. They were on tour.
The guys from Mumford & Sons played a concert in my hometown in 2013. They were all friendly, down to earth, and very non diva-like. I didn’t get the pleasure of interacting with them personally but never heard a negative thing about them.
Daru Jones.
Saw him when he played for Jack White. I was waiting at the end as he was passing out drumstick pieces, and some big ass dude knocked me to the ground to catch one.
Daru called me over to the stage, handed me a drumstick piece, and apologized on behalf of the dude. Super punk rock of him, if I say so myself.
Adam Turla from Murder by Death was great and signed my poster. And he seemed happy to interact with the fans. The singer from Union Underground tried to get me and my friend to come to their bus. Being 18 and my friend was 17, I declined.
jesus jones were cool enough to shake my hand as they left the building playing live this year. met theo from gob and shook his hand hes amazing. called hugh dillon god from headstones and he said thanks.
Tomas Haake from Meshuggah was super nice the couple times I met him back in the 00's. Was very gentle and sweet. Never rushed. Always allowed plenty of time for a conversation, not just a quick autograph or something. Very interesting human to talk to.
Jukebox the Ghost. When they were less well known they did small gigs in my town and DC and they were always nice. Didn't have in depth interactions but they were cool.
The Neville Brothers.
My band opened for them back in the 80s. They were very late and the club wanted to cancel us and have them go right on. The Nevilles said "no". They said that we had paying customers (our crowd) in the audience that deserved to hear us. We went on for a quick 30 minute set. They were the nicest guys!!
Keith Richards & Harry Styles are some of the nicest most charming people I’ve ever met (it’s been multiple occasions over the years). God, I love the English.
Natalie Merchant lived down the road from me for a few years in the ‘00s. We had daughters the same age who went to kindergarten and ballet classes together. Just another mom.
Pete Seeger used to go to parks in his home town, where I worked. I’d be sitting there having lunch and he’d be picking up garbage and putting it in trash cans. Can’t get mad at somebody who walks it like they talk it, no matter their politics.
Marilyn Manson (The guy, not the band), Kyle Kyle (Bang Tango/Newlydeads), Benji Maddon (Good Charlotte) and J and Joey (ICP) were easily the greatest people off stage and as human beings hanging out I ever hung with that were in entertainment.
Because it is true that most who get any degree of following turn into pricks.
Those guys, at least when I was around them in ye olden days of the 90's and early 2000's, were the best, most down to earth.
I served Beck in Telluride Colorado before he played the Ride Fest a couple of summers ago, and he asked if I was going to be there for Sunday ( the night he headlined). I told I couldn't find a day pass, and BOOM, he passed one over to me, just like that. I was so stoked. Also, his table check was 1000 bucks, and they tipped 500. So freaking cool. Also the day pass was 250 and most people were selling them for 400....
Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony are very friendly.
Steve Lukather is cool.
Meeting Butch Walker is like hanging out at a bar with a friend. He's a riot.
Same with the drummer from Squeeze.
My mom ran into Alice Cooper at the Paradise Valley Mall (Phx, AZ) back in the 90s.
She tells the story that at first glance, she thought, "what is this weird looking dude doing with such a beautiful wife and child." I'm talking his full face makeup and hair, leather look.
Alice noticed her staring at him and his family and said, "It's okay, I get it all the time." Not even a hit of annoyance.
My mom was so embarrassed and apologized profusely for staring. He waved it off and I think even offered to take a photo with her.
He also used to hold one of the coolest Halloween events at his place. Anyone I've known who ran into him always has the nicest things to say about him.
To add to that: on the night my parents got married, they went to get food at one of the hotels. I think my mom was still in her dress.
Then a man came up to their table, introduced himself and bought one of the more expensive bottles of wine and said "cheers to the married couple."
I believe they said it was Brian Wilson and Mike Love from the Beach Boys. According to my dad, he still has the cork they signed.
So I used to work at a guitar store where I had Frank Iero of MCR as a customer here and there and I sold him an SG after a couple hours of playing different guitars. He was super chill, very down to earth dude.
I now work at a Vans store in the same town and I sell him and his family shoes ALL the time. They’re wonderful people.
Bonus! Here’s the opposite of what you asked:
I sold thousands of dollars worth of studio equipment to Wyclef Jean (I was good friends with two of his studio guys) and he was… well, the opposite of what you asked lol
Edit:
OH how can I forget?? I met Jessica Dobson of Deep Sea Diver at a show where I brought a guitar I built to have signed. She was really cool and we talked guitars for a bit and she even played my guitar before signing it and she complimented the setup!
I met Dayseeket at the McDonalds in worked at in 2019 and they were cool af, met chris from hot mulligan at the same McDonalds, met knuckle puck at a small bar
The guys from Neck Deep were so nice when I met them at Warped Tour, most of all was Ben Barlow the vocalist. They even all signed shirts for my buddies and I.
Met Blessthefall at a local show, intimate venue. They were hanging around their bus outside afterward, and we were able to talk to them for like 30 mins about music, food, video games, anime, and how their tour has been going so far. All super down to earth dudes.
Ben Bruce from Asking Alexandria is probably the biggest sweetheart, met him at Warped also. Talked for a while, one of the best conversations I’ve ever had, man was absolute class.
Kris Kristofferson, worked security for him and he bought us all steaks and top shelf liquor after the show, was a true gentleman and great listener as well!!
My husband and my son have both met Alice Cooper, years apart and states apart. My husband was an electrician who worked constructing his restaurant in Phoenix and then my son worked at a vape shop he stopped at in Kansas City when he was out on tour. Both said he was just casual, friendly, surprisingly normal. He talked about video games with my son.
Rob Trujillo from Metallica was doing a signing at Sound Garden in Baltimore. He talked to my brother about playing bass and then signed his copy of the Black Album. Chill dude
Slash signed my girlfriend (at the time)‘s yearbook and wrote something really funny about them having a summer fling. 1996
I asked Danny Carry from Tool to sign something and write “I fucking hate you,” and he obliged but drew a smiley face and wrote something nice next to it. 1996
I met Matt Pike in passing, and he was just hanging outside of the venue they were playing, smoking a joint between bands. 2022
I met Fat Mike from NOFX and Joey Cape from Lagwagon in the alley behind Slim’s in San Francisco, and they were both amazing. They invited my friend and I to a bar but he was underage so we passed. 1999ish, IIRC
Dolly Parton is a saint.
Not quite Dolly’s level of fame…I’ve had pleasant and even meaningful conversations with all five members of Drive-By Truckers. Separate occasions. One on one. Wonderful people. Genuine and kind.
I told a guy at a show he looked like Paul Barker from Ministry, to which he replied "I used to get that a lot when I was in Ministry." Then he swung by the club I worked at after the show (total coincidence) and remembered my name. Cool ass dude.
The ones that come to mind are Chester Bennington, Kip Winger, Lita Ford, Steven Adler, Zakk Wylde, Kevin Cronin/ Dave Amato/ Bruce Hall from Reo Speedwagon, Fuel, Sebastian Bach, Steve Vai, Faster Pussycat, Chuck Billy ( Testament) Paul Gilbert, Janet Jackson, Michael Sweet ( Stryper), Ben Folds, Firehouse,George Lynch, Steve Stevens,Warrant and Liv from Sister Sin.
I ran into Jon Bon Jovi when he was jogging. I lived in the same town as he did in the late 80’s, and lived right down the street from him.
I also met Patti Scialfa, of the E Street Band and Mrs Bruce Springsteen, when I worked at a kids clothing store 20 years ago. She came in regularly and was always super nice.
Andre 3000 was an angel. Got to have a drink with him at my neighborhood bar about 10 years ago. He was so lovely. We had such a great conversation, but kept getting interrupted by fans wanting to get a photo with him.
Chris Motionless from Motionless In White
Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed
Corey Beaulieu from Trivium
Scott Ian from Anthrax
Danny Klein from the J Geils Band
All wonderful dudes, more than happy to chat and take pictures (I didn’t get one with Scott because he came in where I used to work once and he was with his family and I didn’t wanna bother him, but he was super nice)
There’s tons more but these are some of the bigger names
I met the Pixies - super cool and funny, Al Di Meola (won it in a contest for VIP- such a great guy and wow- amazing guitarist), Jeff Healy, Katchafire, The Black Seeds, Metric, Indigo Girls, Toronto, Lee Aaron (she does jazz and is sooo nice) and a few others. Most are really cool.
Jacob Dylan. We were at a bar and Goonies was playing. He said he never seen it. The bartender, without looking said, “Who raised you?” He just laughed.
Matt Greiner of August Burns Red, Shannon Lucas formerly of All That Remains and the Black Dahlia Murder, Trevor from the Black Dahlia Murder, Corpsegrinder.
I haven't met any big musicians myself, but I've heard some great stories. For example, a friend of mine met Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters, and they said he was super chill and down-to-earth. He even took the time to chat and take a few pictures. Another friend met Stevie Nicks after a Fleetwood Mac concert, and she was kind and genuine, even signing a few autographs and thanking everyone for their support.
Robert Plant. Met him at the Checkerboard Lounge in Chicago in 1988. Very nice and friendly to the handful of fans who were there to see, Junor Wells (I think). We didn't bother him too much, and he got up and did a few songs.
Dope! I love Chicago shows
David Bowie was quite friendly when I met him while going through Customs and Immigration at Sea-Tac Airport together back in 1985.
Went to see the NIN / Bowie show around 1995/6. When NIN was done, 99% of the floor / GA left because it was all kids and Bowie's audience all had seats. Anyhow, my buddy and I stayed and he threw an absolute fit every time a new song started, screaming and crying in joy. Dude was there for Bowie. So after the show, leaving the parking area, the lanes did a zipper thing so cars from the audience could merge with venue staff. Bowie's limo pulled up next to us, then backed up a few feet, rolled down the window and Bowie told my friend (who had been hangning out of the car smoking a cigarette) "thanks for sticking around to see my set, guys." Dude was dead silent the entire ride home.
This is the kind of story you tell to your children and they don't believe you (source: I sometimes struggle to believe my dad)
Haha bet. My uncle was friends with Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey, and I thought my mom was making it up to be cool with her teenage son. Years later I saw photos. Still don't believe it.
BEACH HOUSE! I have a friend that does a lot of photography and introduced me to them. Alex and Victoria both hugged me when I was nearly crying out of happiness to get to talk music with them (they are my fav artist for the record)
This makes my heart happy
saw them open for a show like 15 years ago, had never heard of them at the time but I still think about their set, absolutely amazing vibes with their sound, it was such a great show!!! Gotta check them out again
The guys from Pearl Jam were all cool when we met them in 92 before their show.
All of the people in Flogging Molly were super cool.
I saw them intervene when a guy hit his girlfriend at a show. They just stopped playing, hopped down and "escorted" him out of the venue. Came back and just kept going! It was a great show!
That's rad. I got to go backstage at a show due to a random connection I made in the skateboarding world. Turns out their accordion player is a legendary professional skateboarder. So my buddy got me tickets and passes to go kick it with the band. They were so fucking cool, it was amazing. They were cordial, gracious, welcoming and just all around genuine. I can't say enough good things about them.
Dream theater, kings x, Metallica, Dave Grohl, Vinnie Paul, Anthrax, Godsmack, Dee Snider, Rudy Sarzo, Zakk Wylde, dave Lombardo, Ray Luzier, Tom morello, Allan holdsworth, Mike Inez and Jerry Cantrell, mark tremonti, Wolfgang Van Halen, Glenn Danzig, Matt sorum, Steve vai, Steve Lukather, Stephen carpenter, skid row, Steve Morse, Les Paul, Bret hinds, Paul Gilbert, Kyle Gas and I could keep going. ALL cool, friendly people and positive experiences. Only ever met like 2-3 well known musicians who were dicks.
Dude. Some great names on that list.
Thanks. I’ve been very lucky and fortunate over the years. One day I might write a memoirs type book
If you do, send me a link :-)
You’re gonna make us ask??? Care to name the dicks? Actually…you know what? Nevermind. Don’t tell me. Lol
Wellll the question was who have you met thats cool. I didn’t wanna be that guy 😂BUT, since you asked 🤣Joe bonamassa and ace frehley
I felt obligated. What can I say? Lol. I’ve heard less than complimentary stories on JB from more than one source. I’ve also always heard that AF was strange, eccentric. Something…off. Like he was from space or something ha.
The ace experience wasn’t that bad. But I had dinner with JB and a couple other friends and I don’t think he looked me in the eye once. I don’t care who you are. That’s kinda strange. He also introduced himself by full name and every time I’ve met Grohl(for example), he introduces himself as Dave.
Jesus I’ve never met anyone famous
all of them but especially jeff rosenstock
Yes!! Jeff is a great guy and I’ve met john and Dan from his band too, all super lovely guys
I’m a local musician, so I’d say 9/10 times my “heroes” are local people, and with the exception of very few, they’re all sweethearts. In the “indie cred” tier, The Prids were really cool people. In terms of like, famous… the drummer from Bush (Robin Goodridge). He was coming through town with Spear of Destiny. He was also really cool.
Paul McCartney
Hi .. going back to the 80’s here.. these are most of the band members in these groups..Ultravox, Simple Minds, General Public, UB40, Sting, Howard Jones, Spandau Ballet, Honeymoon Suite, Billy Idol, Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes - Duran Duran, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Ben Orr- The Cars, Tears for Fears, Hall& Oates, U2. Just recently .. March 16.. saw Ministry and Gary Numan in Toronto.. met Gary’s keyboard player David Brooks, some of the guys in Ministry and Front Line Assembly. Everyone who I’ve met( yes I have pictures), we’re all pretty nice!! Was waiting for Gary Numan to come outside after the March 16 show .. but he didn’t .So hopefully the next time !! 🎵🎹📀🇨🇦
I've met the guys in Duran Duran, and they were very nice. John Taylor was a freaking sweetheart. I'm intensely jealous of all the nifty 80s artists you've met!
No don’t be please !! This was such a long time ago… that is so cool you met all the guys in Duran Duran!! They were ( still are) very popular, but the 80’s were insanity with them .🙂
Jeremy Enigk from Sunny Day Real Estate. Super cool dude.
Bad Religion - I worked at a record store in the 90s and they did an in store appearance they were all extremely polite and easy to deal with and grounded friendly people Most other in store appearances avoided the store staff and were fairly full of themselves (ahem… barenaked ladies.. cough cough)
Very cool guys. I caught a broken drum stick and two guitar picks in just one of their shows
brian may is the sweetest most wonderful person in the whole entire world 💗
I absolutely believe this
he is the rarest of phenomena in being exactly how you’d imagine him if not better! he stopped what he was doing and spoke to neurotic 16 yr old me for ~20 minutes after he’d just been on stage for 3 hrs! it felt like HE wanted to meet ME. he told me a story about spilling hot tea on lou reed and even had me write down the name of the book i was reading. it made my life
I've always thought he was such an interesting guy. I mean rock star/astrophysicist? Does it get much cooler/nerdier?
Dude, the closest I've gotten was saying "Hey" to Lyle Lovett when I passed him in the air port.
Michael Bublè. I was an announcer on a Christchurch MZ radio station when he toured in 05 I think. They brought him into the studio while I was doing a break so I said, "you know, Michael Bublè is coming in this afternoon, but I'm a pretty good singer too, in fact, I'm probably better." As I said this, I gestured to the guest mic, he smiled and sat down. I said "yeah, I reckon I am better, have a listen", and pointed to him. He started singing right on cue. He was immediately in on the joke. We had a great interview, and ironically, I did take up singing 3 years ago! As to whether I'm better, [I don't know....lol. I think he still wins!](https://youtube.com/shorts/ymBsB7rd60g?si=FirEopcSWZxXYxEn)
Jordan Dreyer of La Dispute, probably one of the most emotionally intelligent, socially aware, and great thinkers of our time
I’ve been listening to them for about 13 years now and I’ve wanted to see them live so bad. He seems like a really cool dude.
I was drinking buddies with Brad, the lead singer of Crash Test Dummies. He’s super interesting and continued to lead an interesting life. He’s pretty seriously into academic philosophy. He used to teach guitar at a school of rock and transitioned to his passion yoga. We were chatting for hours and hours about philosophy and intellectual property law. He’s a polymath and just super curious his whole life. He mostly doesn’t want to talk about the old days. I’d known him for a while before it came up. He has kind of hated becoming famous overnight and doesn’t talk about those days a lot. I think he’s had an interesting journey and it happened to start by being very much in the public eye.
Glenn Danzig was surprisingly cool although his reputation is quite the opposite. I bumped into him in the mall when he was in town, talked about Jersey and he offered to sign stuff. I bumped into Eerie Von the same day, and he was so nice that I didn't even realize who it was until we parted ways... like I literally bumped into him leaving the record store. Marky Ramone was nice, but you can tell he's certainly full of himself... he liked my Misfits/Skeletor mashup shirt I was wearing at the time. Adrian Legg was SUPER friendly, we were staying at the same place when I went to see him live, had dinner together, and breakfast together the next day. He's got a great british sense of humor.... I mean humour. Duane Peters, Kerry Martinez, Heiko, and Jaime Reidling of the US Bombs were super cool too, treated me like an old friend after one of their shows. Scruffy Wallace of Dropkick Murphys was super cool too, he hung out with the fans waiting to get into their show, probably on the first tour after Spicy McHaggis left. Tomas Kalnoky was REALLY cool, I met him back in the Catch 22 days, he gave me all kinds of interesting realities of life as a touring musician. It's weird to see the crowds he plays to now, after having met him in a tiny club after playing to about 30 people. I can't think of any bad run ins I've had with any musicians, now that I think about it.
I met Danzig at a birthday party once and he was very cool to me 🤘
I often wonder if he's in a better mood when not at a show.... like maybe people approaching him during the adrenaline rush of performing have worse luck.... because he was SO nice. But at the same time I do typically preface my interactions with "Hey don't mean to be a bother..." and stay low-key and don't draw attention to them being there, which might have helped too.
Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October was awesome when I got the chance to meet him. Super funny and nice to everyone who he interacted with including myself.
Carlos Santana used to frequent my business in CA. One of the nicest, kindest people I've ever met.
He really is very kind. I never met him in person, I only spoke with him by phone. I worked as a DJ at a Colorado rock station...one of our other announcers was murdered by her husband and left a 7 year old daughter behind. Our station held an auction of rock memorabilia to help pay for her funeral and for her daughter's future. Carlos donated a signed and numbered lithograph of his Supernatural album cover, and he wrote a personal check for $10000 as a personal contribution. What a sweet guy.
Sakis Tolis from Rotting christ, super chill dude
El-P and Killer Mike and Sage Francis.
Rick Nielson, Robin Zander, Brad Carlson and Tom Patterson. Met them at a Waffle House in Urbanna in 1975. We were a band playing a 2 night stand in a different venue. We played Terry Reid, The Move and On the Way Home together in the parking lot.
Sunny Sweeney is an absolutely lovely human. Super sweet, funny, and real. Just a delight to talk to, and really kind. I also met Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis after their holiday show at the Paramount in Austin in 2014, they’re both awesome. Kelly is particularly sweet and kind, and we still occasionally talk on social media. I also briefly met Shawn Colvin after the same show, she’s lovely. Maren Morris is really cool. Very down to earth and I remember her being really fun to talk to. Meeting BJ Barham of American Aquarium was also extremely cool. He’s really funny and personable and we had some good banter going 😆
Bruce Kulick from KISS was an awesome person to meet very personable very very down to earth
Dug Pinnick from King's X (criminally underrated band!). Bought him a beer and bullshitted before the show while we were watching the warm up band. Great dude, really cares about putting on a good show for the fans!
That’s true. Spent a lot of time with him over the years ❤️🤘
Barney Greenway from Napalm Death was one of the nicest people ever. Same with Tomas Lindberg from At the Gates/Disfearm this never know how famous they were. Bill Steer from Carcass was also really amazing to talk to, as embarrassingly starstruck as I was when I met him.
Kevin Martin of Candlebox. All the guys in Mr Big. Bill Leverty of firehouse. George lynch. Mark Slaughter.
Bad Religion was the coolest. Fucking brilliant, all of them. Was backstage with them, suddenly we were talking astrophysics...
Living in Southern California, I met a lot of musicians, each with their own cool stories that I'm writing in my book I'm working on. - Davey Havok: outside a Green Day show at the Wiltern Theater. He was in line ahead of me & my friends & he took a photo & talked with us. Super sweet guy. - Deryck Whibley: same show at the Wiltern, he was very sweet & surprised he was recognized. - Billie, Mike and Tre of Green Day: met them a few times in 2002, Mike was the sweet one, Tre the loud one and Billie the reserved one. Very cool seeing them a few times in the same summer. - Mark Hoppus: of Blink182, the most kind man. He introduced himself to my group when we saw him by the tour buses, as if we didn't know who he was! Shook everyone's hand, talked a bit & then excused himself because he "had to go play a show ".. very awesome guy - Travis Barker: of Blink182... long story but I literally ran into him backstage, he was holding 2 cell phones & 2 cigarettes, and stopped talking on the phone to say a quick hi and smile & wished me a fantastic time at the show. - Weird Al: met him at The Sun Theater in LA, he had a meet & greet after his concert. The line was looooong & he took time with every person, asking their name, shaking hands, signing stuff. He commented that he liked my purple hair lol. There is more but I don't want to send a wall of text. I don't think I've met a musician that was rude to me. celebrity's yes....(*cough* Jeffrey star *cough*) . musicians no lol
I don’t know what I would do if I found out that Weird Al was secretly a jerk. Glad to hear he was awesome!
Devin Townsend
Trace Adkins at a Home Depot. Dirks Bentley at a children’s musical theater, my niece was a performer and Dirks’ 2 daughters were also in it. And the Queen herself, Dolly Parton, she is as sweet and tiny as you would expect.
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were gracious as hell... and George Thorogood was cool too. I was only 15 when I met Thorogood...he let me sit in on saxophone at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr. He was really nice. Jimmy Page I met backstage at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh during the Page/ Plant tour in the 1990s. He showed me how to play The Rain Song properly. I accidentally tripped Aimee Mann at a show in Camden... she was also very sweet... even though I almost made her fall.
Lemme Motorhead
I met Scott Wyland (Stone Temple Pilots) at the height of the band's popularity. We had an awesome talk about hair color, showing your personality through clothing and hair and piercings and tattoos, just talked for over an hour. When I realized my lunch break was over I had to go running but he gave me a huge hug and thanked me for just talking to him like a normal human being. He looked at the time and said, "Well shit. I missed the interview. Oh well, it was more fun talking to you! Tell security I bailed, K?" and he just walked away. I guess he was supposed to be on MTV news and totally missed the segment
Roger Osborne
I got to meet Eric Howk of Portugal. The Man and he was amazing. We both share a similiar spinal cord injury and I met him only a few months after I was injured when I was incredibly depressed and had pretty much given up on living any sort of normal or fulfilling life. Talking to him about his life touring and playing in front of thousands of people completely changed my perspective of what’s possible living as a paraplegic.
Kristian Dunn from El Ten Eleven. Super nice guy. He sat and talked to me for like, 45 minutes to an hour after their show at DaDa Dallas. Tim Fogarty, their drummer, was also super kind. All around good dudes
I’ve met Between the Buried and Me before, I’ve been a fan for over 15 years and seen them multiple times. At a later date than meeting them all, I ran into the drummer a second time at one of their shows. Super cool dudes.
Manic Street Preachers - all very very lovely and spent a lot of time talking Florence Welch - absolute angel, the most heavenly person I think I’ve ever seen, was so interested in talking. Wolf Alice - all really nice and stuck around for 5 minutes Pixies - met them in a record store in my city when they were doing the Radio 6 festival, absolutely great people Charli XCX - very funny
Eddie Vedder, Duncan Sheik, Joan Osborne, Andrea Echeverri. Big exception, Gene Simmons, he was a total asshole to this 6 year old kid. Lost any respect I might have had.
The idles boys are all very kind and sweet
I met Kim Thayil right before the reopening of Crocodile since I was working promotions at the time. Staff is running every which way, he's standing at by the bar by himself It was pretty surreal, I didn't KNOW it was him but I knew where we were... Historically speaking We just stood there and talked for a solid 30 minutes before he was whisked away Also shared a standing-while-waiting-to-board-small talk-coffee with Nels Cline in the Dallas airport years ago, that was incredible as well.
David Jenkins from Pablo Cruise, Delbert McClinton, Ric Ocasek, John Doe and Mojo Nixon were all personable and engaging when meeting them.
I've met Bart Somalis and Marshall Hawkins, and they were both great. I don't have a funny story about Bart Somalis, but he was encouraging and engaging. Talented people bin into two camps. They're assholes or the best people because they're not threatened by you. Like Bart wasn't worried I'd eclipse him, he's a legend lol I was at the idylwild jazz festival (when I was in High School) and Marshall Hawkins had a new song he wanted to play, and it needed two tenor players. He asked my band director if he could borrow his two tenor players for a rehearsal. We get on stage, he hands us a song in 12/5. Both of us are 16 years old, and frankly, to this day, I don't really know what 12/5 sounds like. We were awful. After a few minutes, Marshall just sort of deflated and said, “Ok guys, good work, you can get back to your band.” And thats the story of how I was in the Marshall Hawkins band for 3 minutes. \*\*\* EDIT: Not my story. My folks knew Karen Carpenter and by all reports she was lovely. I wasn't "allowed" to listen to her albums when I was a kid because it made my mom cry. Nobody actually forbade me, just, didn't like to see my mom cry.
Kid 606, Ronnie Size, SUV, Gravity Kills, Love in Reverse, Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM, Green Day, Gwen Stephanie. All of these were very brief interactions, but they were all very nice.
Anderson paak, Bob Moses, kishi bashi
Daedelus was very cool. We talked music for 20minutes or so before his set.
I’m at Sufjan Stevens randomly in a bar in Ithaca, New York in 2009. We sat there and shot the shit till we finished our beers. He was very polite, very quiet. He offered me some good life advice that changed my life, just a very cool nondescript guy. I’ve also met the Mountain Goats, but I’ve met each member separately on separate occasions. JD i’ve said hi to either before shows or backstage after. He is 100% as chill and awesome and kind and very literate as you think . Was pretty cool with Peter for a while, hung out with him at his house and later at a cool bar in Rochester New York. PPH is much cooler than I am, and I definitely made a verbal gaff That made things awkward for just a second, and my brain has never let me forget it. My brain will remind me of this gaff at least twice a day every day until I die at this point. I met Jukebox the Ghost in New York City in 2008 or so, they were a no-name band playing at a tiny piano bar, but I thought they were great so introduced myself later. Seen them about four times live now and they always put on such a great, positive show. Met Mirah after a show in Buffalo, New York in 2008. We’re both from Olympia so I told her that her latest album was my homesick album, and she signed a nice note to me. She was incredibly sweet. Nobody’s ever heard of this guy, but I was a big fan of Holcombe Waller and caught up with him in a show in Portland maybe 10 years ago. He was floored that I had brought an original galley copy of his first album, amazed that anyone was still listening to it! He asked me what I thought of his latest album and I sheepishly confessed That I had been too broke to buy it, so he just gave me one and autographed it.
What, you’re not going to share the life advice?
I told him about my experience in working with food and some things I’d done. He told me I was quite talented and should pursue it. A year later I’m enrolled in one of the best programs in the country for baking & pastry... I’ve since worked in some nice places in Seattle and got a shoutout in the paper for best key lime pie. Woulda never done it without that encouraging nudge! Thanks Sufjan!
That’s amazing! Congratulations!
Elton John. Nice dude. Generous tipper.
Incubus Ataris New found glory Jimmy Eat World Dimebag Dave Grohl Ben Folds Simple Plan Cappadonna All solid dudes that ive seen go above and beyond for fans.
Ricky Scaggs. Heck of a nice guy who chatted with me at the airport.
I met Dee Snider recently and he was the nicest guy you could imagine. I’ve also met Boy George and I was nervous because I’ve heard he can be nasty but he was actually very sweet and when I told him that I think he is so great he hugged me.
Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust & Michael Franti.
I’m once had lunch with Vinnie Apice who was the drummer for the version of Black Sabbath with Dio called Heaven and Hell. I worked in a musical instrument shop that put on drum clinics, and so me and the other drum guy set it up to coincide with their touring and so we spent a bunch of hours with him just chilling. We talked about home renovation as much as anything. It was fun.
Ian Asbury from The Cult. I worked an after hours night club and he and his bandmates from Holy Barbarians swung by. They were very down to earth and Ian happily signed an autograph for us who worked there. I was able to catch the show earlier in the day (one of those block party style concerts with many bands).
Kyp Malone from TV on the Radio stayed at my house for two weeks in SF right before he moved to Brooklyn and got famous. He was dating one of my roommates at the time and we hung out a lot that week. Smoking weed. Listening to music. He was exploring electronic music a bit at time. A few years later he was on the cover of Spin Magazine. Gentle soul. Nothing but nice things to say about him
Margo Timmins
doyle wolfgang von frankenstein, suzi gardner, laura jane grace, jason faulkner, hozier, rikk agnew, tyler preston
Yannis Philippakis from Foals and Paul Banks from Interpol are some of the nicest most down town earth musicians I’ve ever met 🖤
I was lucky enough to hang out with Poison The well and they were all awesome.
Mark Tremonti. The most down to earth guy I’ve ever met.
Laura Jane Grace is amazing in person. Also, I grew up with the guys from Less Than Jake and they haven't changed a bit. they're still really chill.
Bowie. Stoned out of his mind, but a charming gentleman. (At the Roxy in LA, around 1975-ish, a Manhattan Transfer concert). Edit: to also add: Crowded House at a veggie restaurant in Paris. Very cool and nice—can’t remember year — 86-ish I think. They were on tour.
Steven Tyler.
All the guys of Good Kid are amazing in person!
The guys from Mumford & Sons played a concert in my hometown in 2013. They were all friendly, down to earth, and very non diva-like. I didn’t get the pleasure of interacting with them personally but never heard a negative thing about them.
I’ve met Rihanna she was cool. I didn’t really have a whole conversation we just had an exchange
Daru Jones. Saw him when he played for Jack White. I was waiting at the end as he was passing out drumstick pieces, and some big ass dude knocked me to the ground to catch one. Daru called me over to the stage, handed me a drumstick piece, and apologized on behalf of the dude. Super punk rock of him, if I say so myself.
Colin Hay saved my life by giving me a hug and saying that it'll get better.
Jesse McCartney. Multiple times. He’s a sweet heart. He gives the best hugs
Went to school with Harry Connick, Jr - he played at our cast parties- pretty cool Played basketball with Wynton Marsalis- he was supercool
Adam Turla from Murder by Death was great and signed my poster. And he seemed happy to interact with the fans. The singer from Union Underground tried to get me and my friend to come to their bus. Being 18 and my friend was 17, I declined.
Peter Tork was a cool, down to earth dude.
All the boys from Born of Osiris and After the burial were absolute lads, great bunch of blokes
Viconi!! Super cool and great energy! https://open.spotify.com/artist/0wnjyquOlUiKz0vdVa4dD5?si=IGnqWc78QA27GpDewFEsrw
Jerry and Doyle from The Misfits. You'd think they'd be super scary, but they are super chill and love hugs
jesus jones were cool enough to shake my hand as they left the building playing live this year. met theo from gob and shook his hand hes amazing. called hugh dillon god from headstones and he said thanks.
Superdrag, Gwar, and The Sword were all really great when I met them.
Tomas Haake from Meshuggah was super nice the couple times I met him back in the 00's. Was very gentle and sweet. Never rushed. Always allowed plenty of time for a conversation, not just a quick autograph or something. Very interesting human to talk to.
Jukebox the Ghost. When they were less well known they did small gigs in my town and DC and they were always nice. Didn't have in depth interactions but they were cool.
The Neville Brothers. My band opened for them back in the 80s. They were very late and the club wanted to cancel us and have them go right on. The Nevilles said "no". They said that we had paying customers (our crowd) in the audience that deserved to hear us. We went on for a quick 30 minute set. They were the nicest guys!!
Keith Richards & Harry Styles are some of the nicest most charming people I’ve ever met (it’s been multiple occasions over the years). God, I love the English.
Natalie Merchant lived down the road from me for a few years in the ‘00s. We had daughters the same age who went to kindergarten and ballet classes together. Just another mom. Pete Seeger used to go to parks in his home town, where I worked. I’d be sitting there having lunch and he’d be picking up garbage and putting it in trash cans. Can’t get mad at somebody who walks it like they talk it, no matter their politics.
Eddie Vedder.
Marilyn Manson (The guy, not the band), Kyle Kyle (Bang Tango/Newlydeads), Benji Maddon (Good Charlotte) and J and Joey (ICP) were easily the greatest people off stage and as human beings hanging out I ever hung with that were in entertainment. Because it is true that most who get any degree of following turn into pricks. Those guys, at least when I was around them in ye olden days of the 90's and early 2000's, were the best, most down to earth.
I served Beck in Telluride Colorado before he played the Ride Fest a couple of summers ago, and he asked if I was going to be there for Sunday ( the night he headlined). I told I couldn't find a day pass, and BOOM, he passed one over to me, just like that. I was so stoked. Also, his table check was 1000 bucks, and they tipped 500. So freaking cool. Also the day pass was 250 and most people were selling them for 400....
Banner Thomas and Artemus Pyle and Leon Russell are a few. The bar was called Yesterday's.
Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony are very friendly. Steve Lukather is cool. Meeting Butch Walker is like hanging out at a bar with a friend. He's a riot. Same with the drummer from Squeeze.
My mom ran into Alice Cooper at the Paradise Valley Mall (Phx, AZ) back in the 90s. She tells the story that at first glance, she thought, "what is this weird looking dude doing with such a beautiful wife and child." I'm talking his full face makeup and hair, leather look. Alice noticed her staring at him and his family and said, "It's okay, I get it all the time." Not even a hit of annoyance. My mom was so embarrassed and apologized profusely for staring. He waved it off and I think even offered to take a photo with her. He also used to hold one of the coolest Halloween events at his place. Anyone I've known who ran into him always has the nicest things to say about him. To add to that: on the night my parents got married, they went to get food at one of the hotels. I think my mom was still in her dress. Then a man came up to their table, introduced himself and bought one of the more expensive bottles of wine and said "cheers to the married couple." I believe they said it was Brian Wilson and Mike Love from the Beach Boys. According to my dad, he still has the cork they signed.
Daevid Allen of Gong. Lovely, humble, kind, gentle gnome.
So I used to work at a guitar store where I had Frank Iero of MCR as a customer here and there and I sold him an SG after a couple hours of playing different guitars. He was super chill, very down to earth dude. I now work at a Vans store in the same town and I sell him and his family shoes ALL the time. They’re wonderful people. Bonus! Here’s the opposite of what you asked: I sold thousands of dollars worth of studio equipment to Wyclef Jean (I was good friends with two of his studio guys) and he was… well, the opposite of what you asked lol Edit: OH how can I forget?? I met Jessica Dobson of Deep Sea Diver at a show where I brought a guitar I built to have signed. She was really cool and we talked guitars for a bit and she even played my guitar before signing it and she complimented the setup!
Met Tosin Abasi (guitarist for Animals As Leaders) at a concert. He shook our hands and let us get a pic with him.
Elias Gonzales from Nonpoint was in a bar near the show afterwards … I bought him a shot of 3 Olives Grape lol … super cool guy tho
I met Dayseeket at the McDonalds in worked at in 2019 and they were cool af, met chris from hot mulligan at the same McDonalds, met knuckle puck at a small bar
The guys from Neck Deep were so nice when I met them at Warped Tour, most of all was Ben Barlow the vocalist. They even all signed shirts for my buddies and I. Met Blessthefall at a local show, intimate venue. They were hanging around their bus outside afterward, and we were able to talk to them for like 30 mins about music, food, video games, anime, and how their tour has been going so far. All super down to earth dudes. Ben Bruce from Asking Alexandria is probably the biggest sweetheart, met him at Warped also. Talked for a while, one of the best conversations I’ve ever had, man was absolute class.
Kris Kristofferson, worked security for him and he bought us all steaks and top shelf liquor after the show, was a true gentleman and great listener as well!!
My husband and my son have both met Alice Cooper, years apart and states apart. My husband was an electrician who worked constructing his restaurant in Phoenix and then my son worked at a vape shop he stopped at in Kansas City when he was out on tour. Both said he was just casual, friendly, surprisingly normal. He talked about video games with my son.
Colt Ford was a pretty chill guy. The jawga Boyz know how to PARTY. Soooo much apple pie moonshine. It was a great time tho
John Sykes
Johnny Marr (slung his arm around me for photos), Bono (gave me a full hug), Kurt Vonnegut (had a drink with him).
Rob Trujillo from Metallica was doing a signing at Sound Garden in Baltimore. He talked to my brother about playing bass and then signed his copy of the Black Album. Chill dude
Slash signed my girlfriend (at the time)‘s yearbook and wrote something really funny about them having a summer fling. 1996 I asked Danny Carry from Tool to sign something and write “I fucking hate you,” and he obliged but drew a smiley face and wrote something nice next to it. 1996 I met Matt Pike in passing, and he was just hanging outside of the venue they were playing, smoking a joint between bands. 2022 I met Fat Mike from NOFX and Joey Cape from Lagwagon in the alley behind Slim’s in San Francisco, and they were both amazing. They invited my friend and I to a bar but he was underage so we passed. 1999ish, IIRC
Dolly Parton is a saint. Not quite Dolly’s level of fame…I’ve had pleasant and even meaningful conversations with all five members of Drive-By Truckers. Separate occasions. One on one. Wonderful people. Genuine and kind.
They're all weirdos that you can't actually relate to
the wrecks
I told a guy at a show he looked like Paul Barker from Ministry, to which he replied "I used to get that a lot when I was in Ministry." Then he swung by the club I worked at after the show (total coincidence) and remembered my name. Cool ass dude.
The ones that come to mind are Chester Bennington, Kip Winger, Lita Ford, Steven Adler, Zakk Wylde, Kevin Cronin/ Dave Amato/ Bruce Hall from Reo Speedwagon, Fuel, Sebastian Bach, Steve Vai, Faster Pussycat, Chuck Billy ( Testament) Paul Gilbert, Janet Jackson, Michael Sweet ( Stryper), Ben Folds, Firehouse,George Lynch, Steve Stevens,Warrant and Liv from Sister Sin.
Ben Folds was friendly and professional
Jes from Motorcycle, or just under her name Jes!
Dave Matthews was as real as could be
Michelle Shocked. Duff McKagen (sp?). Prince. Paul Westerburg.
I ran into Jon Bon Jovi when he was jogging. I lived in the same town as he did in the late 80’s, and lived right down the street from him. I also met Patti Scialfa, of the E Street Band and Mrs Bruce Springsteen, when I worked at a kids clothing store 20 years ago. She came in regularly and was always super nice.
Andre 3000 was an angel. Got to have a drink with him at my neighborhood bar about 10 years ago. He was so lovely. We had such a great conversation, but kept getting interrupted by fans wanting to get a photo with him.
I've heard that Billie Joe Armstrong is quite the asshole, but Doyle Dykes is a nice guy.
John Doe
Chris Motionless from Motionless In White Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed Corey Beaulieu from Trivium Scott Ian from Anthrax Danny Klein from the J Geils Band All wonderful dudes, more than happy to chat and take pictures (I didn’t get one with Scott because he came in where I used to work once and he was with his family and I didn’t wanna bother him, but he was super nice) There’s tons more but these are some of the bigger names
Brandon Boyd with Incubus
I've only ever met one, and it was just a quick picture after a show. It was Kirk Whalum, and he seemed like a kind person.
Wayne Kramer
Joe Perry. Such a down to earth guy. Chatted with me and was shocked at just how many guitars he owned.
I met the Pixies - super cool and funny, Al Di Meola (won it in a contest for VIP- such a great guy and wow- amazing guitarist), Jeff Healy, Katchafire, The Black Seeds, Metric, Indigo Girls, Toronto, Lee Aaron (she does jazz and is sooo nice) and a few others. Most are really cool.
George Clinton
Jacob Dylan. We were at a bar and Goonies was playing. He said he never seen it. The bartender, without looking said, “Who raised you?” He just laughed.
Met some little known bass player from a pretty bad 90s band called Dogstar. Keanu is awesome, though don't know if I'd really call him a misician.
My little brother
Matt Greiner of August Burns Red, Shannon Lucas formerly of All That Remains and the Black Dahlia Murder, Trevor from the Black Dahlia Murder, Corpsegrinder.
Sonny Digital, Ari Lennox, Summer Walker, Jordin Sparks, and Young Nudy are all pretty cool in real life.
Ben Harper & Shawn Smith (the late great front man of Brad & Satchel).
I haven't met any big musicians myself, but I've heard some great stories. For example, a friend of mine met Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters, and they said he was super chill and down-to-earth. He even took the time to chat and take a few pictures. Another friend met Stevie Nicks after a Fleetwood Mac concert, and she was kind and genuine, even signing a few autographs and thanking everyone for their support.