Meeting one of your biggest heroes can be memorable, even for big rock stars. For Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, the hero in question was David Bowie and the night they met, is one of those amazing rock-n-roll stories.

Elliott recently told Loudersound.com the night he met his musical idol, he was at a barbecue at U2 singer Bono’s Dublin, Ireland home in 1989. Before the party began, Bono led Elliott to an upstairs private room and sitting on a pool table was Bowie. The two briefly chatted and a friendship was formed.

Later that evening, the story goes, Elliott, Bowie and their host piled into a car and made their way to a local restaurant. Bono’s band-mate, The Edge, was there with family and friends celebrating his birthday.

The three singers stumbled out of the car and sang a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday," to the U2 guitarist.

Elliott often talks about Bowie’s influence on his music. He’s said, “To a man, everybody in Leppard adores Bowie. There’ll never be anyone like him again.”

Here are couple of Bowie song covers performed by Joe Elliott:

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