Have you ever met one of your favorite artists, but lost respect for them after said encounter?

I've been lucky enough to meet most of my favorites. I spent some time working in the music industry in the mid-90s and it afforded me some memorable experiences. Most musicians are normal guys. Those that have such big heads are often on their way DOWN. I'm lucky to have had more nice stories than bad ones, but some of my stand outs are:

Rikki Rockett (Poison) - he was in lobby of a hotel where a music convention was being held. He ended up surrounded by fans, and took the time to meet and speak personally to each one. After the crowd dissipated, these two girls said to him, "We're so sorry to draw such attention to you like that!" He responded with, "Don't be sorry. If I didn't want to be recognized, I would have stayed home!" What a class act!

Kelly Keagy from Night Ranger was also one of the most amazing musicians I've ever had the opportunity to hang out with. My best friend and I had gone to Vegas from NY (six weeks after 9/11) to see NR and spent a large chunk of the evening after the concert sitting at one of the bars BS-ing with a couple of the guys in the band. We talked to Kelly about EVERYTHING from where we were on 9/11 to music in general. It was SO cool!

Kip Winger was another nice guy. He was on his way to dinner when I saw him backstage at a show in Colorado (which is his hometown) and was nice enough to take a moment to take a photo with me. He also remembered me a few months later when I saw him in NY.

On the complete other end of the spectrum, at the same convention, I had the misfortune to come across Blackie Lawless of WASP who practically ripped my head off when I asked for a picture. (I was like, "If you didn't want to be bothered, WHY did you come out?")

Don Dokken was the BIGGEST SOB I've ever met. He was SO condescending to my best friend and I (on another trip to Vegas) when we ran into him in the casino after their concert at the Hard Rock Hotel. He spent the whole three minutes he gave us looking down his nose at us, and that prompted my best friend to say to his face, "Ahhh. F*ck you, Wigwam!" (FYI - if ya didn't know, he wears a full wig because he's BALD)

Riki Rachtman - he used to host Headbangers' Ball on MTV and had a rock band in the 90s. He was such a jerk to me.There was a group of us standing in the courtyard at the aforementioned music convention, and apparently I was standing where he wanted to be. So, he shoved me out of his way. I turned around to him with a "Who do you think you are?" and he says "Don't you know who *I* am?" I looked him up and down and said, "Oh yeah, you're that poser from MTV. Your show sucks and your band sucks even more!"

One thing you have to consider:

People want something from them, and they get annoyed after a while. Some are reminded that they still have to be nice to the fans even if they don't feel like it. They're the ones who are paying their bills, but it doesn't help when fans start treating them like monkeys and demanding photos and autographs. Some guys are just looking for company for the night and don't want guys backstage, and artists can be tempermental. Plus they know that half the people who want autographs are going to sell it on ebay.

Some fans will take up a LOT of time talking their ear off about absolutely nothing just to take up their time to the dismay of others that were waiting to get something signed.

I've seen fans of some artists have their wives go backstage for them. I was like "what are you doing??" And the husband was fine with it.

I think that someone who entertains for a living can be intelligent, but there are a lot of times that is all they know and can talk about.

No one has ever shown me disrespect, I've never pursued an autograph the way most people do, but I'll just say I'm familiar with what they do and what kind of personalities they are that I've been able to get to go do some cool things every now and then. There are people who I've met that were supposed to be the biggest jerks but I never saw it. I think that some of it ties in to when they're working and lose it at the shows.

The coolest celebs are the ones who don't make a big deal out of it. They'd rather find out about you. A lot of them actually correspond with fans via email if it piques their interest.

But some friends who work in SoCal restaurants and bars and in recording and film have clued me in on who to avoid.

Bob Dylan - depends on the mood. He's hung out at college campuses talking to groups of people before and after shows, and other times breezed by people without saying a word.

This is a weak answer, but I haven't met many musicians. Athletes yes...

Jerome Benton of the Time was hysterical when my wife and I talked to him after a show about 10 years ago. Small venue and he just hung out with us. Morris Day left before the last song finished.

Elliot Yamin was good enough to take a picture with the kids(who are Idol fanatics) at a Christmas store last year.

Jmike...I think I could read your stories all day!

I have not met a ton of celebs - but two instances sit in my mind as the sweetest, kindest guy and the biggest dink.

Smash mouth (I'm pretty sure that's the name) or Smash box or whatever - some members of that band were at the same party as me and a friend, and the lead singer, a tubby, sweaty guy, was so annoying and basically sexually harrassed my friend and I to no end until she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. He was so annoying that we left the party!

The sweetest celeb I have ever met was Billy Corrigan from Smashing Pumpkins - at the time I met him he was with Zwan? I think? I don't know, but we were sitting at a table next to him at a fairly empty restaurant in Key West. The weather there was really awful, they were having record low temps, and there wasn't much to do. He was really, sincerely a nice guy, talked to us for awhile, talked to my daughter who was maybe 7 or 8 at the time - He is kind of an intimidating looking guy to a little girl, and at first she was like, 'Eh! Who's this guy we're talking to?' but it was only a minute or two before she was talking away with him- he seemed to be good with kids. He took pics with us and was so nice. He was with two other guys, I think they were members of Zwan, I don't know, really, they were nice too but more stand-offish.

Yes but not really.

Way back in the stone age of 1991, I met Gene Simmons and Eric Carr (RIP) at, of all places, a Krispy Kreme donut shop after a concert in Albany, GA. Gene was Gene, which is to say he acknowledged our presence and spoke kindly but didn't really go out of the way for us, which I completely understood. Eric, however, was an absolute total star. He gave us drumsticks and signed our tour programs and t-shirts. He asked us what we liked about the show, what we didn't like, and what we could do to make it better. He then spent the next hour talking about the area and asking us about our personal lives like we were all old friends catching up. (During all this, Gene was working feverishly to pick up the girl behind the counter.) It was an amazing experience, and magnified even more when we all realized that he was in the midst of a battle with lung cancer that wouldn't come out until several months later.

The only real prick I met was Peter Frampton. My old band was opening for him at a local "Octoberfest" party downtown. We went exactly two minutes over our aloted time on stage, and he acted like we had stolen his gear, insulted his mother, and kicked his dog. Needless to say, I have absolutely no use for Frampton.

NP: "Putting It On" - The Wildhearts

*** In reference to nitedawgs' post above, from my experiences, the best way to act around these guys is to just be normal. I have never asked for an autograph or anything, but I've had several offered without request. My approach is to always cautiously and quietly let the artist know that I appreciate their music (invoking the title of some rare b-side or deep album cut when I can to let them know I mean it) and then let them take it from there. Often times, it's a quick thank you, but other times it leads to a great experince. For example, John Waite was impressed that I knew and loved the song "Downtown" off of one of his later solo albums, so he invited the wife and I to his hotel. We sat in the bar all night talking about everything under the moon and drinking bottle after bottle of wine.

I have met Cradle Of Filth on multiple occasions. At 1 point they were my favorite band.

I did not lose respect for them because of those actual encounters more because of their attitude some time after. For example they were signed by Sony then all of a sudden certain people who had helped get them where they were at the time suddenly didn't matter. Not long after the band were dropped by the label so I suppose they got their just desserts.

I guess I've been somewhat lucky to not have met a few of them because there's no doubt I'd lose some respect for them. I've known several people who met Trent Reznor and everyone was 100% unanimous with their assessment of him, that being a total prick. As much of a fan of his work that I am, that really bothers me that he could be so rude to his adoring fans.

No, I've always had a positive experience with meeting musicians. The only negative time was when I met the singer in Disturbed. He was very rude, but I didn't like Disturbed to begin with so it wasn't a problem.

I'm always interested in meeting musicians. Most of the time they are intelligent and appreciate their fans.

Have you had a bad experience?

No, luckily enough both times I have met my favorite band they were really nice and seemed happy to talk to fans.

My sister met Bob Dylan he was very nice he signed her album and took her gift she made him while he was on stage it was great she wasn't let down at all.