Meeting Celebrities : The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

[Disembodied Spirit]

Does Richard Hatch from Battlestar Gallactica count as a celebrity?

 

Met him too.

[ILSnwdog]

I've met tons of musicians back in my days of working in radio and nightclubs. Most of them were minor celebrities in the alternative/goth/industrial scenes. The bands/people I remember meeting were:

 

Front Line Assembly a couple times

Wire

Buzzcocks

couple of the Ministry guys

Project Pitchfork

Marilyn Manson (some kid in the audience asked me to bring something to him backstage)

The Mission

Peter Murphy

Lars Ulrich

 

There were more people I never bothered meeting because I didn't really have anything to say to them. I've been to Kirk Hammett's house, but that was during an open house after he had moved out ;)

Which Ministry guys? I wonder what Al would be like.

 

Was Page Hamilton playing with Wire when you met them? I saw Helmet last summer, and he stuck around at the end of the show to shake hands with everyone who came up to the stage. I thought that was pretty cool.

Edited September 25, 2015 by ILSnwdog

[x1yyz]

I've met tons of musicians back in my days of working in radio and nightclubs. Most of them were minor celebrities in the alternative/goth/industrial scenes. The bands/people I remember meeting were:

 

Front Line Assembly a couple times

Wire

Buzzcocks

couple of the Ministry guys

Project Pitchfork

Marilyn Manson (some kid in the audience asked me to bring something to him backstage)

The Mission

Peter Murphy

Lars Ulrich

 

There were more people I never bothered meeting because I didn't really have anything to say to them. I've been to Kirk Hammett's house, but that was during an open house after he had moved out ;)

Which Ministry guys? I wonder what Al would be like.

 

Was Page Hamilton playing with Wire when you met them? I saw Helmet last summer, and he stuck around at the end of the show to shake hands with everyone who came up to the stage. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

I met Paul Barker and someone else (Chris Connelly?) but I didn't meet Al. With Wire I met Colin Newman and Graham Lewis. Those were both somewhere around 1989-90.

[EagleMoon]

You met Lucy Lawless? I loved that show when it was on. She just kicked everybody's ass!!!

 

Yeah I met her several times in NYC when she was doing Grease.

Lucy is Grease? She kill anybody? Was she Rizzo?

 

Yeah she was Rizzo. Did a great job. I saw the show 5 times over the course of the run.

Edited September 25, 2015 by EagleMoon

[ILSnwdog]

I've met tons of musicians back in my days of working in radio and nightclubs. Most of them were minor celebrities in the alternative/goth/industrial scenes. The bands/people I remember meeting were:

 

Front Line Assembly a couple times

Wire

Buzzcocks

couple of the Ministry guys

Project Pitchfork

Marilyn Manson (some kid in the audience asked me to bring something to him backstage)

The Mission

Peter Murphy

Lars Ulrich

 

There were more people I never bothered meeting because I didn't really have anything to say to them. I've been to Kirk Hammett's house, but that was during an open house after he had moved out ;)

Which Ministry guys? I wonder what Al would be like.

 

Was Page Hamilton playing with Wire when you met them? I saw Helmet last summer, and he stuck around at the end of the show to shake hands with everyone who came up to the stage. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

I met Paul Barker and someone else (Chris Connelly?) but I didn't meet Al. With Wire I met Colin Newman and Graham Lewis. Those were both somewhere around 1989-90.

Barker was the bass player with Ministry. One of the few consistent members. Connelly played with Al in a few deferent bands, like the Revolting Cocks.

[gypsy muse]

A few celebs that I've met at a convention that were sincerely nice:

 

- Betsy Palmer: the Mom and killer in the original Friday The 13th ... She was beyond gracious and kind - very talkative and personable ... She listened and laughed when I told her how much she scared me when I saw the film in the theater as a kid - I told her that her portrayal of Mrs Vorhees and Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates were the two most convincing horror film characters ever ... She, of course, thanked me, and then humbly joked "The only reason I got that role is because I was the only one who had a car and could get myself out to the filming location" ( ... it was actually filmed in the boonies of NJ )

 

- Peter Criss: KISS' original drummer .... Yes, it was at a convention, and there was line of people in front of me and behind me - but as I rambled on to Peter about how much the band meant to me as a kid ( and still does ), and how my Dad took us to see KISS in 1979, Peter Criss actually started crying - I am NOT joking - He then called his wife over and told her to take a Polaroid of me and him, no charge ..... as I walked away, he tapped his chest and said to me "You really got me with that story, thanks"

that's awesome! I somehow just new he was cool.

[goose]

http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/Cards/Football/3252/3252-241Bk.jpg

 

JoJo lives in the valley and is a great guy. We're friends and have known each other for a long time, through coaching and youth sports.

 

http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/1167/1167-185Bk.jpg

 

Another valley athlete that I've hung out with several times.

[Rushman2112]

Met Terry Bozzio at a drum clinic. I was star-struck and could barely function, but he was very nice and signed multiple autographs.

 

Met the guys from Outkast in a bar (Taco Mac) before I heard them on the radio. Talked to them for about a minute. Also very nice.

 

Didn't actually meet him, but I saw Eminem while he was still 15 working as a dishwasher (Gilbert's Lounge). I would say he was a cook, but he was too young at the time. We both happened to be staring into space lost in our own thoughts about 15 or 20 feet from one another but generally facing each other.

 

Vince Neil was at the table next to us at a strip bar one night (Cheetah), but since nobody else was bothering him, I decided not to bug him myself.

 

On a temporary job, my boss was the touring bass player for "The Riggs" who opened up shows for Rush on some of the Signals tour. He told be a funny story about him splitting his pants during a bass solo and roadies taping it up with duct tape as he continued his solo. The guys from Rush thought it was so funny that he got to party with them on the bus. Unfortunately he wouldn't go into much detail about that. I want to say his name is Dave. I probably still have his business card around somewhere.

 

I used to know a guy that met Rush at a bar in Detroit. He had a long conversation with Alex, but Geddy and Neil wouldn't even shake his hand. This was around Grace Under Pressure, and Alex was talking about not being happy with the direction the music was going in and said he was thinking about quitting. The band that was playing that night was Tiles.

 

I met one other person who met Neil. It was a group of people that were mountain biking I'm guessing in the early or mid 90's. I think the story was that he knew Howard Ungerleider, so that's how he was there. He met Neil, and then when it was time to start biking, Neil took off and nobody caught up with him.

I forgot about the time that Ted Nugent's daughter Starr basically sat on my lap at a bar, and I didn't know who she was until after she walked away.

[Union 5-3992]

I met Jon Dinklage (CA String Ensemble) outside Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Didn't realize who he was until he was on the stage. Was a very nice guy. He talked to me & RushYesZeppelin about the band and some folks in management. I thought he was just another roadie

[Super Phil]

Charlie Daniels is a really nice guy. (His whole band and crew are awesome also)

 

Jammed with Darrel McDaniels (aka DMC from Run DMC). He was a nice guy.

 

Jimmy Chalfant from Kix is cool as is Jules Radino from Blue Oyster Cult.

 

Lol...Nick Cannon, Howard Stern, and Heidi Klum were all pretty nice.

 

I met many NHL players when I worked for a hockey stick company, and most of those guys were nice...never had a problem with anyone.

[Disembodied Spirit]

Met the Black guy from 'Shark Tank' Friday night.

 

Seemed nice enough. He gave me NO money...sadly

[paul2112]

I've met the following....

 

Ted Nugent. Don't remember much about it, it was at a hunting store. His daughter was smoking hot.

 

Chris Rock. Very quiet backstage, nothing like he was onstage.

 

Bono. Very nice, and took time to sign autographs and listen to fans' stories. Other than meeting Geddy and the boys, there's nobody else I'd want to meet after meeting him.

 

Jon Bon Jovi. He jumped onstage with a cover band out of nowhere. Afterwards he was hanging out at the bar. I felt a duty to my past to at least shake his hand (loved Bon Jovi 30 years ago). I did not bother getting an autograph.

 

 

And the biggest Miss! I've told the story on here before. I won front row tickets to ClockWork Angels tour and the station threw in Meet and Greet passes without me knowing. I picked up my tickets too late for the meet and greet. I think it took me a year to get over that one.

Edited October 30, 2015 by paul2112

[blueschica]

I had kind of forgotten until the "Back to the Future Part II" stuff last week- my son (3 mos. old !) and I met Michael J. Fox in front of our apartment bldg. in Cleveland 29 years ago. He was filming that "Light of Day" movie with Joan Jett. Our whole block was blocked off ( I didn't know it) and his trailer was in front of our building for the day. He was coming back to his trailer for a break and I was pushing a stroller when I looked up and there was Michael J. Fox !(followed by a HUGE body guard.) It was somewhat surreal which might explain my sparkling conversation like, "Hey, how are you?" and "How's it going today?" He was very interested in my son and we had a nice conversation about babies, laughing, etc. Shorter than he appears on film but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

 

What happened next has changed my mind about autographs (except for the Rush mailing thing or signing where people expect to be signing.) MJF finally said, "Well, I'm going to get some lunch, etc." and I said, "Do you think I could have your autograph for my son's baby book?" It was like his face froze and changed into another expression, I'm not sure what, he seemed tired. He said, "I will send one out later," and practically ran into the trailer. I told my husband later, and he said, "Well he was having a good time like a normal person and then you turned into someone else that wanted something from him," which I didn't realize at the time but was true. I've felt kind of bad since then; I saw a John Lennon movie where he said autographs were OK but what he liked best was in Central Park when people just wanted to shake his hand and say "thanks"; there's probably something to that. :)

Edited October 30, 2015 by blueschica

[EagleMoon]

I had kind of forgotten until the "Back to the Future Part II" stuff last week- my son (3 mos. old !) and I met Michael J. Fox in front of our apartment bldg. in Cleveland 29 years ago. He was filming that "Light of Day" movie with Joan Jett. Our whole block was blocked off ( I didn't know it) and his trailer was in front of our building for the day. He was coming back to his trailer for a break and I was pushing a stroller when I looked up and there was Michael J. Fox !(followed by a HUGE body guard.) It was somewhat surreal which might explain my sparkling conversation like, "Hey, how are you?" and "How's it going today?" He was very interested in my son and we had a nice conversation about babies, laughing, etc. Shorter than he appears on film but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

 

What happened next has changed my mind about autographs (except for the Rush mailing thing or signing where people expect to be signing.) MJF finally said, "Well, I'm going to get some lunch, etc." and I said, "Do you think I could have your autograph for my son's baby book?" It was like his face froze and changed into another exp<b></b>ression, I'm not sure what, he seemed tired. He said, "I will send one out later," and practically ran into the trailer. I told my husband later, and he said, "Well he was having a good time like a normal person and then you turned into someone else that wanted something from him," which I didn't realize at the time but was true. I've felt kind of bad since then; I saw a John Lennon movie where he said autographs were OK but what he liked best was in Central Park when people just wanted to shake his hand and say "thanks"; there's probably something to that. :)

 

Cool story. I would imagine the celebrity thing gets old really fast. From what I've heard from interviews over the years it sounds like most of them just want to be treated like normal people. Whatever they do to get the celebrity status in the first place is usually just their job. Nobody wants to be working 24/7.

[x1yyz]

I had kind of forgotten until the "Back to the Future Part II" stuff last week- my son (3 mos. old !) and I met Michael J. Fox in front of our apartment bldg. in Cleveland 29 years ago. He was filming that "Light of Day" movie with Joan Jett. Our whole block was blocked off ( I didn't know it) and his trailer was in front of our building for the day. He was coming back to his trailer for a break and I was pushing a stroller when I looked up and there was Michael J. Fox !(followed by a HUGE body guard.) It was somewhat surreal which might explain my sparkling conversation like, "Hey, how are you?" and "How's it going today?" He was very interested in my son and we had a nice conversation about babies, laughing, etc. Shorter than he appears on film but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

 

What happened next has changed my mind about autographs (except for the Rush mailing thing or signing where people expect to be signing.) MJF finally said, "Well, I'm going to get some lunch, etc." and I said, "Do you think I could have your autograph for my son's baby book?" It was like his face froze and changed into another exp<b></b>ression, I'm not sure what, he seemed tired. He said, "I will send one out later," and practically ran into the trailer. I told my husband later, and he said, "Well he was having a good time like a normal person and then you turned into someone else that wanted something from him," which I didn't realize at the time but was true. I've felt kind of bad since then; I saw a John Lennon movie where he said autographs were OK but what he liked best was in Central Park when people just wanted to shake his hand and say "thanks"; there's probably something to that. :)

 

Cool story. I would imagine the celebrity thing gets old really fast. From what I've heard from interviews over the years it sounds like most of them just want to be treated like normal people. Whatever they do to get the celebrity status in the first place is usually just their job. Nobody wants to be working 24/7.

 

Neil knows this firsthand.

[Xanadu]

Met the Black guy from 'Shark Tank' Friday night.

 

Seemed nice enough. He gave me NO money...sadly

 

That would be Daymond John. :)

 

Dan Aykroyd - Awesome to the fans during in-store signings of his Crystal Head Vodka. Was supposed to sign for two hours and stayed well over three to sign for every last person waiting in line. Signed movie memorabilia too, despite store management telling the fans he would not (NEVER believe them, by the way, ALWAYS bring your items just in case) and each person who went up to him was warmly greeted with a handshake and a "nice to meet you and thank you for coming". He was very accommodating with photos as well. Made you feel like he was as happy to meet you as you were to meet him. Just the best.

 

Other various sports stars/other stars:

Frank Thomas

Carlton Fisk

Jeremy Roenick and a few other Blackhawks (I used to work at an ice rink where they practiced)

All the guys in Queensyche (yes, even Geoff Tate was nice)

Joey Lawrence (Whoa!)

 

I am sure there are a few more, but I am drawing a blank at the moment.....

[Xanadu]

Oh yeah, I met the late, great NFL Hall of Fame RB Walter Payton. Just as nice as I imagined. Gone way too soon. :(

[Lucas]

About 8 years ago, my sis and I went to a film and music memorabilia convention - I love those as it is a chance to meet some celeb from the past ..

 

Anyways, I began chatting with a woman who had been sitting at a table, as she was now milling around the crowd - she had a great British accent and was very approachable, but I had no idea who she was ... My sis then came over, and the woman said "How about we all take a photo together ?"

 

What the heck, right ?? ... she was sort of magnetic, and was dressed somewhat sexy, and I figured it would be a great pic ..

 

So she gets her Polaroid and has her friend take the photo of the three of us .... HOWEVER ... just before the pic was snapped, she pulls her dress off over her head, and is completely topless !!!!

 

Both my sis and I rolled with it, as this was a moment not to be forgotten

 

It turns out that this lovely celeb was Nici Sterling, ( former ? ) porn star

 

 

To post this here, I added the blocks in the pic for obvious reasons :)

 

 

 

http://s26.postimg.org/bqhecqkxl/Nicki_Sterling_Blocks.jpg

[edhunter]

What reasons?

[Union 5-3992]

What reasons?

You cant post nipples, twats, cocks, or cracks here.

[MMCXII]

The subject of meeting celebrities came up in another thread, so I figured that this topic needed it own thread ...

 

Let's hear your experiences - the good, the bad and the ugly

 

I'll start with what I wrote in the other thread:

 

I have met a lot of celebrities at the conventions, but they are usually on their best behavior - but it is quite easy to tell the ones who are sincere from the ones there to make a quick buck ..

 

I've also met some famous people simply on the street . .

 

The first that comes to mind was, again, around 1980 - My Dad had ordered a beautiful Guild 12 string acoustic guitar for me ( Dad really encouraged me with the acoustic at that age, if ya know what I mean ) .... He and the owner of the store were friends, and because the store was all the way down in Red Bank, NJ ( 2 hours away ), we'd always go down on the weekend ..

 

But the store owner called on a weekday and told us the guitar was there - and being the impatient kid I was, and being the great Dad I had, we drove down on a weekday night after the store had closed to pick up the guitar ... The owner said he would wait, and he had some repairs to do on other things anyway ..

 

So we get there, and the owner lets us in and leads us into the back where my new Guild was ... and on our way into the back, I see a skinny guy with long hair working on a guitar in the repair area ... And I kinda recognized him, but wasn't sure ... So we ask the owner, and he said "Oh yeah, that's Jimmy - he's got a gig a Nassau Coliseum this week and is getting his guitars ready"

 

It turns out that it was Jimmy Crespo, who had just taken over for Joe Perry in Aerosmith .... The owner leads us back there and introduces us - I was a big Aerosmith fan, so I was pretty star-struck ... Jimmy Crespo could not have been kinder or more receptive - when he found out why we were there, he wanted to see my new Guild - the guy stopped everything he was doing and spoke with us for a while ... He was so nice, and even my Dad ( who was a guitar player too, but Aerosmith or KISS was not quite his cup of tea ) loved Jimmy Crespo ..

 

He was so respectful and took the time to show me his guitars and told me about how it was pretty overwhelming coming in for Joe Perry ..... He left a huge, lasting impression on me ....

 

On the other hand:

 

I think everyone here knows by now that I am a huge KISS fan ... so a few years back when Paul Stanley was hawking his paintings at a local art gallery, I decided that I'd go see ...

 

The art gallery was in The Short Hills Mall - and if you are familiar w/ NJ, it is a very nice mall - Neiman Marcus, Gucci, etc etc ... Real expensive and exclusive ..... Anyways, in order to get into the art gallery, you were required to purchase one of Paul's dreadful paintings - and then you could meet him ...

 

So me, my girlfriend, and about 20 other people stood outside the art gallery where we could see Paul, and everything that was going on ... There was only one way in and out, so we figured that when the gallery closed, we'd have a chance to to say HEY PAUL, and maybe - MAYBE - get him to stop and chat ...

 

After waiting a few hours, Paul finally came out ... by that time, there were about 12 or 15 of us waiting ( this is a mall, so we were just kind of standing near the railing and hovering around )

 

There was no big commotion - no hysteria - but as Paul walked by us, there were the usual HEY PAUL , and WE LOVE YA directed at him ..... Now, I wasn't really expecting him to stop are belt out a song, but the mother****** turned his head and didn't even acknowledge any of the HELLO PAULs

 

As it became apparent that he was intent on just beating it outta there, I remember saying - loud enough to be heard by everyone - "THAT'S OK, HE'S PROBABLY JUST ASHAMED OF HIS LOUSY PAINTINGS"

 

Nice!!! Haha

 

Personally I would've enjoyed calling out Paul in public much more than meeting the guitarist from Aerosmith but I guess I'm just flawed that way lol. Nice post!