Nicest Men and Biggest Jerks in Rock

[DustinJames89]

This thread is really interesting. My brother met Sean Lennon and said he was super nice.

[DackAttac]

I'm finding a lot of "Your Mileage May Vary" in this thread. I think a good deal of that is it's possible to catch nice guys on bad nights where they don't want to talk to fans and to run into wankers when they feel like hamming it up with their fans.

My firsthand experience is pretty much unknowns (Pink Spiders (close to their breakup, so they were kind of kurt), Frank Turner (had me confused with an a**hole who borrowed one of my fingerless gloves before the show then acted like a dick the whole gig, so I don't really blame him for not talking to me), Ike Reilly (super-nice, no exaggeration; personally met every patron at the show)), or at sponsored meet-and-greet shindigs, which I feel almost doesn't count, since they're being paid to be nice. (Although if they fail at that... That's a special class of douche right there.)

However, my cousin used to work setting up for gigs at a rock club, and in his experience:

Butch Walker - Nice guy, helped the staff set up his equipment.
Brandon Flowers - Diva. Threw a pissy fit before a Killers show because the towels weren't the color he specified.
Panic at the Disco - Eccentric, kind of in their own world. I don't get the impression they were outright jerks or anything, but the way they conducted themselves clearly rubbed him the wrong way.

I've heard from many people that Mike Dirnt is a nice dude, as is Billie but I guess Tre is a total spaz?

A teacher I had once's daughter takes tennis lessons in the same class Mike's kid does. Says he's a really nice guy. And a boss of mine was chilling backstage at a big show, talking about bands they like, when Billie Joe just kinda chimed in, sat down, and shot the s*** about music with them, no pretense or "Check it out, I'm a big star" conceit. I don't even have any secondhand stories of Tré but the impression I've gotten from interviews and the like is like CubeCubed said, he's just really out there and his humor's not for everyone.

[Rodeo]

I met Lou Reed once, when he came in the pharmacy. A pharmacist in training was helping him while I chatted with his (local) bodyguard. The guy said he was super friendly and I should bring all my albums. I was somewhat feverishly trying to come up with a feasible plan over how to go get my Transformer & Berlin LP in time...

As it turned out I had to take over from my colleague, and things seemed to be going well, but unfortunately neither of his credit cards were accepted by our (Belgian) bank terminal. I can't remember how he finally managed to pay, but it took several tries and his mood visibly & audibly changed. All the while I the only thing I could think was "so this is the famed New York grumpiness" Weird

Anyway, it's hardly something to judge him by, it's just a prized anecdote

[exploder]

To add someone nobody has mentioned yet:

I've heard Glenn Danzig is a complete jackass. I haven't met him myself (I'm too shy to approach celebrities even on the rare chance that I see them) but from what I've seen in videos and heard from people who have met him he seems like a very angry dude with some issues.

Kind of regret not meeting Yuki Chikudate from Asobi Seksu when I had the chance, she seems cool.

he's always starting fights with other bands,except unlike fred durst, he actually beats them up instead of just bashing them in interviews. can't decide who's the bigger jerk

[darkwinterbeast8]

he's always starting fights with other bands,except unlike fred durst, he actually beats them up instead of just bashing them in interviews. can't decide who's the bigger jerk

This post reminded me of the time Danzig got his *** kicked

[Ultimatum]

Danzig actually gets in fist fights, he just gets knocked out in one punch.

[TheRollingBones]

I think Bruce Springsteen seems like a pretty cool guy. Really laid back, sorta working class American type guy. Down to earth, and still seems in touch with regular people and his fans even though he's such a big, successful musician.

[hiimSMAP]

I'm not even a Jukebox the Ghost fan, but I met them recently and they're are so freaking down to Earth it's unbelievable.
Also, I have some connection to Lynyrd Skynyrd, as Gary used to live at the same condo that we go to for spring break and he would just go outside and play guitar and sing and we didn't know who he was for the longest time and then it hit us and we were like "OH **** THAT'S GARY ROSSINGTON"
But he's seriously a chill guy.

[Lowlander2]

Speaking purely from what I've heard:

Nice:

Alice Cooper: Apparently one of the more down-to-earth rockstars. Doesn't seem that personal with fans, but he's the furthest thing from a dickhead, and I can respect that.

Dio: Same thing.

Jerks:

Roger Waters: He seemed like the stickler of the band. "I don't get my way, then screw you. I'll never talk to you again."

Mike Portnoy: He said he wanted Dream Theater to "rest", but his agenda was pretty clear. And what was there to rest from anyway? BCaSL was done over a year prior to that moment, and so were their tours I'm sure.

Ritchie Blackmore: Has tried to take control of every band he's been in. It's no coincidence each of those have had countless member changes.

Hit/Miss

James LaBrie: Not a real bad guy, but I saw a video of him violently ejecting a fan from the stage, and I think there have been others like that.

[CJHobbes]

Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to meet many celebrities, musicians or not. But there was one concert series in Vegas called "Monster Circus" which Dee Snider was putting on with a bunch of his buddies. The second leg of it featured: Dee, Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake, Dio), John Corabi (Mötley Crüe, Ratt), Fred Coury (Cinderella), Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver), and Tony Montana (Great White). After the show some members were walking out and heading to the nearby bar in the Hilton to kick it with fans and chill for a few hours.

My friends and I caught Dee before he got to the bar and just talked with him for about 15 min. I agree that Dee is a really nice, down to earth person. He was very approachable and seemed to legitimately enjoy talking with his fans.

I also got one of Coury's drumsticks from the concert. It was broken in half, but the roady found both pieces to give to me; so I glued it back together. XD