Javier Bardem once saw a Bruce Springsteen show with Brad Pitt after being invited along by Bono, is cooler than you in every way

Javier Bardem in 2025 — (Image credit: Theo Wargo/NBC via Getty Images)

Hollywood star Javier Bardem once went to a Bruce Springsteen concert with Brad Pitt, after being invited along by U2 frontman Bono.

The Spanish-born actor, who stars in the new sports drama film F1 alongside Pitt, makes the revelation during an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which aired on Monday (June 16).

He explains that, while shooting F1 in Dublin last year, Bono invited him to see The Boss. “Bono told us, ‘Why don’t you come here?’, and we got to see Bruce Springsteen,” he remembers. Bardem then asked Pitt to come with him.

He continues: “After the concert, we were having some sparkling water, the four of us, and I was pretending that this was just a day at the office for me: Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Brad Pitt … The three of them were like, ‘Who are you?’”

Elsewhere in the interview, Bardem talks about the night he saw Judas Priest in Madrid in June 2024. Footage of the actor dancing and singing along to the Birmingham heavy metal band’s song You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ at the show was shared online and quickly went viral.

“Judas Priest were playing in Madrid, I called my friends [asking them to come] and they said, ‘No, because some of them have kids,’ ‘No, I’m studying’ – bye bye!” he remembers with a laugh.

Fallon then asks Bardem about other rock and metal bands he loves. The actor first names Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, followed by AC/DC, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Pantera and Slipknot. He also shouts out the younger Bad Omens. “I love Bad Omens!” he smiles.

Bardem has been open about his love for hard rock before. In an interview with CBS News in 2011, the No Country For Old Men star said that listening to AC/DC helped him learn English. “I love heavy metal music. That’s why I know how to curse!” he joked.

F1 premiered on June 16 and will get a wide release in the US on June 27.

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Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.