The Rolling Stones gave Owen Wilson an Access All Areas pass for life. He f**ked up so badly they took it back after one gig

Owen Wilson and The Rolling Stones
(Image credit: Owen Wilson - Monica Schipper/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images / The Rolling Stones - Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Actor Owen Wilson is a lifelong fan of The Rolling Stones: as a young teenager growing up in Dallas, his very first gig was the English rock 'n' roll legends on their 1981 Tattoo You tour. So you can imagine how thrilled the Zoolander/Loki star was when the band gifted him a priceless Access All Areas pass for life for their gigs... and how utterly gutted he was when this 'golden ticket' was taken back from him after just one gig.

Wilson told the story while guesting alongside fellow Hollywood actor Jeff Goldblum on US talk show The Late Late Show on March 28.The subject came up after Goldblum  spoke about meeting Aerosmith, Ringo Starr and Keith Richards, and host James Corden asked Wilson if he'd ever stepped on stage with any iconic rock stars. It turns out that he kinda had... but not in a way he'd ever want to brag about.

"I went to see the Rolling Stones in Argentina," Wilson begins, "and I was kind of friendly with some of the band, and then my friend was really good friends with Mick Jagger, and we got these special laminates, kind of All Access that were good for the rest of your life.

Understandably excited about this, Wilson says he began wandering around the venue, testing out exactly how Access All Areas said pass was - "like, I'm gonna walk over here and see if anybody stops me, and no one would stop me any place" -  and that he ended up standing in an area overlooking Mick Jagger on stage. 

Then the night took a turn...

"I'm kind of watching," Wilson continues, "and then all of a sudden he bolts during Jumping Jack Flash and comes running down... and it turns out where I was was kind of part of the stage...  I just sort of froze and, you know, tried to be inconspicuous and he kind of came down and then left.

"And then someone came running over, [screaming 'Get out of here! Move! You’re not supposed to be here! And I was, you know, I didn't know! I'm so sorry! And I go to bed that night still thinking about it, going, Gosh that was kind of a gnarly experience.

"And then I get a call the next morning, from Mick's security team, asking, 'Do you have that laminate?' Yes I still have it. 'Okay, we're going to come over and pick it up.'

Ouch.

"Apparently I was also dressed in like a white T-shirt and white pants, and if you are at this part of the stage where you're not supposed to be, you should be in like dark colours where you blend," Wilson adds. "So I get it, you know, he has a show to do, he doesn't need some bozo kind of just cruising around, distracting him."

Share Owen Wilson's pain below: 

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.