Denis Leary Talks Awkward Beyoncé, Rod Stewart Moments with Jimmy Fallon

Photo by Andrew Lipovsky /NBC

Denis Leary has more than a few awesome stories about meeting rock stars, but he recounted some of his more awkward encounters on Monday’s episode of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The comedian revealed a particularly embarrassing tale from the time he got to host a Fashion Rocks benefit show at Radio City Music Hall, featuring performances by Usher, Bryan Adams, David Bowie, Sting, as well as the one and only Beyoncé. Leary hoped to use the gig as a way to score cool dad points with his daughter.

“This is my chance when she was like a teenager to get big cool points,” he told the late-night host. “I go, ‘Why don’t you get a bunch of your girlfriends from school and bring them to the show. I’m hosting, I’ll get backstage tickets, and I’ll introduce you guys to Beyoncé after the show.'”

Even though they didn’t get to meet beforehand, the Worcester native thought it would be fine if he popped by Beyoncé’s dressing room with his daughter and her friends following the show.

“We go down there, the girls are all excited, Beyoncé comes out of the dressing room and I go, ‘Beyoncé you were great tonight,'” Leary said. “And she goes, ‘So were you Bryan.’ She thought I was Bryan Adams.”

“The girls are like, ‘Dad, she thought you were Bryan Adams,'” he added. “I’m like, ‘If she thinks I’m Ellen DeGeneres, I’m Ellen DeGeneres. It’s Beyoncé.'”

Leary shared another awkward moment with Fallon from a different time hosting the Fashion Rocks benefit show, featuring a performance by Rod Stewart. The musician needed a place to change before going on stage and ended up using the comedian’s dressing room.

“He walks in and goes, ‘Hey boys,’ he’s got a big glass of wine. I don’t know where he got that from,” Leary said. “Takes off his jacket, takes off his shirt, kicks off his shoes, takes off his pants. Buck naked in front of us.”

Leary, for some reason, couldn’t stop staring at Stewart’s butt and got an eyeful when the musician turned around.

“As soon as I saw it, I was like, ‘Make eye contact, make eye contact,'” he joked.

The encountered messed with Leary’s head as he made a pretty bad Freudian slip while introducing Stewart on to the stage.

“Rod Stewart’s staring and me and I’m like, ‘I’m sorry dude,'” Leary said.