Never Meet Your Heroes: 3 Times Famous Musicians Were Shut Down by Their Idols

Rejection stings, whether you’re an average Joe or a superstar musical idol. For the following three famous musicians, getting rejected by their idols was a particularly painful burn. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Adam Duritz and Bob Dylan

Adam Duritz of Counting Crows toured with Bob Dylan back in the day. Duritz is a pretty out-and-proud fan of Dylan, and Counting Crows has even covered the Bard’s music in the past. However, the two musicians didn’t really seem to interact much on the tour, and Duritz appeared to mind his own business and keep things professional.

This one’s all hearsay, but César Díaz, Dylan’s former guitarist for his tours, once said that he, Dylan, and Duritz were talking to each other during the tour when Dylan made a pretty rude remark.

“I would go, ‘Bob, the guy from the Counting Crows, he wants to be you,’” said Díaz. “And that was before they did that ’Mr. Jones’ thing, you know. And he [Dylan] goes, ‘Yeah, look at them. What a piece of sh*t.’”

Ouch.

Phil Collins and Paul McCartney

Ah, a beef as old as time. Not only was Phil Collins once rejected by The Beatles’ George Harrison, but he also had an interaction with Paul McCartney that went sour. In a 2016 interview, Collins said that he met his Beatles idol in 2002 at Buckingham Palace.

“McCartney came up with Heather Mills and I had a first edition of ‘The Beatles’ by Hunter Davies, and I said, ‘Hey, Paul, do you mind signing this for me?’” said Collins. “And he said, ‘Oh, Heather, our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan’. And I thought, ‘You f*ck, you f*ck’. Never forgot it. […] He has this thing when he’s talking to you, where he makes you feel, ‘I know this must be hard for you because I’m a Beatle. I’m Paul McCartney, and it must be very hard for you to actually be holding a conversation with me.’”

Dave Grohl and David Bowie

Let’s end this list on a somewhat more positive note. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters didn’t get mistreated by the ever-polite David Bowie back in the day, but he does qualify for our list of musicians who were rejected, in some form, by their idols. However, it seems like this instance was more of a case of Bowie’s sense of humor not translating well.

Grohl got in touch with Bowie about a potential collaboration in 2014. Apparently, Grohl was on board to put together a soundtrack for a film and wanted Bowie involved. Allegedly, Bowie said it was “not his thing” and “now that’s settled, then f*ck off.” Grohl said that he later realized that Bowie was being playful.

“I could finally breathe knowing that David Bowie did not actually wish me to ‘f*ck off,’” said Grohl. “Or maybe he did, but in the nicest way possible, and even that was an honor.”

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