Most rock stars’ lives are full of different scandals, extraordinary encounters, and memorable experiences that will always be unforgettable for themselves and their fans. However, people know that every story has multiple sides, considering how many people are involved. In addition to this, many incidents in the rock world happened when cellphones were not available to everyone, so fans have no choice but to believe those who claim to witness these stories.
As one of these rock stars, Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott probably has countless crazy memories throughout his long career as a musician. However, one of them was more memorable than the others because it included his hero, David Bowie, and an extraordinary kidnapping situation. Before giving details about ‘the abduction,’ let’s learn about their meeting and the unexpected event after it.
How Did Joe Elliott Meet David Bowie?
After Def Leppard’s third and fourth studio albums, ‘Pyromia’ and ‘Hysteria,’ gained commercial success and popularity worldwide, Elliott started to spend more time with the legendary rock stars, especially in Ireland. U2 icon Bono was throwing a BBQ party and invited Elliott, and the other attendees were as notable as the singer himself.
However, Elliott didn’t know the real surprise until he went to Bono’s. The musician took him upstairs during the party, and Bowie was sitting there to meet Elliott, thanks to the U2 singer. Elliott was so shocked that he couldn’t know how he would begin the conversation because of Bono, who didn’t give him any time by telling him anything.
Elliott recalled those times saying:
“It was 1989, and I got an invitation to Bono’s place. He was throwing a big barbecue, and everyone who meant something in Ireland was there, John Huston, John Hurt. I get there, and Bono says, ‘I want to introduce you to somebody.’ So he takes me upstairs to this room with a snooker table, and Bowie’s sitting on the table. Bono goes, ‘I thought you might like five minutes.’ I’m like, ‘You could have told me. What am I going to say? ‘How’s your mum, David?'”
As expected, the singer was incredibly excited to meet one of his childhood idols that shaped his career as a successful musician, David Bowie. However, what started as an innocent meeting ended up being a disaster for those at the party, especially Bowie’s assistant.
Who Kidnapped Joe Elliott?
After spending more and more time at the party, Bono, Bowie, and Elliott started having fun. Then, one of them remembered Bono’s bandmate The Edge’s birthday. The newly formed crazy trio hijacked a Mini and went to the restaurant where the guitarist was celebrating his birthday. They got out of the car, sang the ‘Happy Birthday’ song to him, and returned to Bono’s house.
However, while they celebrated The Edge’s birthday, the others at the party panicked after they couldn’t find the host and two significant guests anywhere, especially Bowie’s assistant Coco Schwab. In one of his previous interviews, Elliott recalled those times, saying that she went crazy and claimed that they kidnapped Bowie. Then, the singer revealed that the person who took Bono and him to the celebration was Bowie.
In Elliott’s words, he said:
“Me, Bono, and Bowie hijacked a Mini and drove to this restaurant where the Edge was having a meal because it was his birthday. We pulled up, jumped out of the car, sang Happy Birthday to the Edge, jumped back in, and drove back to Bono’s. She went ballistic. She thought we’d kidnapped him. We were, like, ‘No, David Bowie kidnapped us.’“
After seeing one of the most precious artists in the music industry go missing at a party, his assistant gave a reasonable reaction to Joe Elliott. Regardless of the minor misunderstanding where Bowie kidnapped other musicians, Bono, Elliott, and Bowie had a great time and had a story fitting for rock stars.
