Topic: What famous person have you met? And what was the circumstance?

I met Chad Smith (RHCP) at a drum clinic the night before they played Slane in Dublin. He gave me a snare drum, seriously! They had an airdrum comp, and prize was a signed signature snare pretty cool stuff, got to chat with him for a while afterwards, really friendly. I got to chat with the Darkness just before they played Oz-fest here, they still had the original bass player at the time. Met the guitarist from Kitty the same day. Met the guitarist from Iron Maiden in Temple bar once, he was just standin there havin a pint,

So who have ye met? And what was the situation?

When I was on a vacation to New York I ran into Jon Stewart inside the line of a deli. He, myself and another guy that was with him chatted about basic things waiting for the damn line to move, but he was nice enough.

Below are those famous persons I've met.

Pantera - Through a friend from high school who was married to their bass player.
Motley Crue - At a meet & greet 8 years ago.
Theory of a Deadman - Meet & greet.
Papa Roach - Meet & greet.
Hinder - Met them at a Sam Goody store in Albuquerque, NM.
Seether - Through fan club, won a backstage pass.
Godsmack - Met as they were getting into their van to go back to their hotel. Nice guys too.

Tom Hanks - At the airport in Colorado while waiting on a flight. Got to speak to him and his lovely wife Rita Wilson.
Bruce Dickinson - Met him while staying with a friend in Vail.
Warren Moon and Troy Aikman - They did a anti-drug talk at a local school years ago.

I went to a drum clinic Shannon Larkin and Sully Erna from Godsmack did in Phoenix 4 years ago and it was fantastic. I didn't win anything, but I learned quite a bit. Which is saying something considering I've been playing drums for over 26 years.

The only famous people i have met (who Americans will not know) are

Wolf from Gladiators
Tyrone from Coronation Street in Magaluf

Not exactly A class celebrity's.

Living in NY, bumping into celebs is less of a rarity. I met Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lecter) at Saks 5th Ave, Robert De Niro outside one of his restaurants in SoHo, Ana Beatriz Barros at the Maritime Hotel, and countless others at Yankees games over the years including most of the team itself (Jeter, A-Rod, Matsui, O'Neill, all the bigs), and NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani because our seats were next to his at the old stadium. At the new stadium I'm stuck a few rows back near Keith Olbermann (kill me, please).

@Corbie: Those are some amazing celeb experiences- But I can't believe you met Pantera! I would instantly explode if that happened.

@Stevie: Wolf from Gladiator? That's frickin' hilarious and awesome.

I met Alex Rodriguez WAY back in the day when he did a couple months stint at the Mariners Low Single-A affiliate. The team played in my home area (the have since moved across town and are a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate). Needless to say, the diva talk about him came as a shock to me because the guy couldn't have been cooler to the people of Appleton back when he was 18. The guy in Appleton was great and was amazing with all the fans.

I forgot to add one of my celebrity experiences. Last May I went to see Opeth [AKA The Best Band Ever] perform here in Memphis. Long story short, I ended up waiting out in the back of the theater with some friends for a couple hours and waited for the band to show [their tour truck was running the whole two hours I was waiting]. Finally, the front man Mikael Åkerfeldt and the drummer Martin Axenrot came out and talked to my friends and I for a while. I was in awe, as I was indeed in the presence of a god. By this time I was pretty torn up so I was slurring really bad while conversing- But the guys were really nice, and Mikael even took a picture with my friends and I. Below is the picture [I'm on the far right- and yes, I look like a zombie].

Let's see...

I met Bruce Campbell, I think I posted the picture here before.
And Dana Snyder, who plays Master Shake in ATHF and The Alchemist in The Venture Bros. (Favorite. Show. Ever.)
And Biker Billy.

I think there might be others, but I can't remember them. I remember years ago when I worked at a radio station I had the chance to interview John Entwistle, bassist for The Who. Over the phone, but still. At the literal last minute, my boss decided he wanted to be an attention hog and so he did the interview instead, without me. I still resent that, especially as Entwistle died right before the tour we were interviewing him about. (I blame the bad interview.)

I think the only famous person I've met that anybody here might know would be Frankie Venom from Teenage Head.

I have never met anyone famous.

I've seen many professional wrestlers before, I've spoken to Glen Jacobs before (aka Kane) who is really nice and quite a laugh I must admit.

I've shook hands with Chris Benoit before aswell, it was only a couple a months before the incident aswell.

I met George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelics.
A.K.A. The Godfather of Funk

It was at the airport in Dallas on the way to Vegas for a three night run of Phish concerts. I talked to him for about five minutes. He was a really cool cat.

Several things about this post just made you one of my favorite forum users. Congrats.

@Chicken Brutus: Bruce Campbell? Dude! That rocks. Did he have a chainsaw arm? And were you trying to say ATHF is your favorite show, or Venture Bros.? Please tell me you're referring to Aqua Teen.

Wow, George Clinton, awesome!

Well, I saw Harry Chapin in Chicago on my 10th birthday and got to get his autograph as he was such a generous person he was out in the lobby after the show to sign them for everyone -- it's still a treasured memento since he was killed shortly thereafter.

Otherwise it really depends on your opinion of celebrity. I got to have my special copy of Heavy Metal featuring art by Jean Giraud signed by Mobius himself at a comic convention I was working in San Jose (at the time the Incal books were being reprinted by Epic -- I've long since sold all my Heavy Metal magazines, including that one).

I've seen other celebs, but I don't think it's appropriate to bother people most of the time on the street like when I saw Peter Coyote at a cafe in San Francisco or when I see Robbie Coltrane and Robert Carlyle at school functions (their kids go to the same school as my daughter).

They're just people -- famous, but still just people.

Exactly, Sean. A quick hello, and perhaps a handhsake in respectful appreciation for the entertainment they've provided you, and off you go.

Nah, no chainsaw arm, sadly. It was just a few months ago...they guy's aged really well.

And Dana Snyder was probably one of the nicest people I've ever met. I mean that. He's nicer than some of my family. I remember watching him talk with this very young kid...the kid was probably 12, and had an obviously diminished mental capacity the way he was speaking, and Dana was extraordinarily patient with him, and encouraged him to go on with whatever bizarre story he was telling...

It was incredible. It was the kind of thing that probably would have frustrated me if I were in Snyder's position, which made me realize what a great guy he must be. He gets tied up by a kid who won't leave him alone, and it's not an inconvenience; it's a chance to make a kid happy. What a guy.

Also, no, anthonyb, I'm afraid my favorite show is Venture Bros. Watching ATHF makes me feel like I'm developing brain cancer.

Unless you like indie music, Girl Talk and Mason Proper won't ring any bells, but I interviewed the former and had the latter perform and interview on my radio show in college. Good times.

Well, I've never really met any famous people (@British-people do people from robot wars count? lol) but I did used to go to school with Jack Wilshere, who Arsenal fans will know