I would have say that Billy Corgan is the most famous person I have ever met. I already told my story about meeting him in a thread called "Favourite Post-Concert Band Run-ins," however I will post here for those of you who have not read it (and are interested in reading it):
I met Billy Corgan when the Smashing Pumpkins were in Halifax in August, 2000. This one is a good story. I was supposed to meet friends at the Alderney Gate ferry terminal. We were going to go over to the show together. There was some miscommunication and it turned out that I was crossing the Harbour on my own. So, on my way up to Citadel Hill, I am not sure why, I decided to stop into Taz Records. As I walked in the door, Billy Corgan was staring right at me. It was awkward. All I said was, "Hi, I'm going to go look at records now," or something really retarded like that and then went to look at records.
Anyhow, if anybody knows Taz, and how big of a dick he is, you would know that he helps nobody (I often wonder how his store stays in business). Well, on this particular occasion, he was very helpful. He was showing Corgan his stacks of secret and rare records and even offering him food and drink. But that was not the best thing of all. What made this chance encounter for me was that four or five 12-14 year old skater kids showed up and decided to talk to him. Oddly enough, Corgan did not tell the kinds to get bent. What struck me as incredibly funny was that one of the kids asked him, "Don't you think Nirvana's Nevermind is the best album of all-time?" to which he replied, "It's ok." That exchange was so good it nearly put me on the floor.
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He would be the most famous person I have met. However, my favourite meeting with a famous person would be when I met the leader of the federal NDP, Jack Layton, during the 2004 Canadian federal election. I met him at a house party in Halifax.
I went to a house party in Halifax one Friday night in June, 2004. A few girls came to the party who had been at a NDP rally earlier that night and they said they invited Jack Layton. I do not think anyone expected to actually see him, but he showed up at the house party and stayed for a little over a half an hour. What was most cool about him showing up at the party was that he sat down at the piano and started playing, among the songs he played was his own version of the Ray Charles song "Hit the Road Jack," changed to "Hit the Road Paul" (a reference to Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin). It was rather wild. Having met and talked to him at this party, I think he is a really cool guy.
