Val Kilmer fans are re-sharing these brilliant stories of his run-in with Bob Dylan and “tickling” Lou Reed

Val Kilmer fans have been sharing memories of the late actor’s memorable interactions with Bob Dylan and Lou Reed.

Earlier today, it was confirmed that the Top Gun and Batman Forever star had died from pneumonia at the age of 65. He passed away on Tuesday (April 1), having been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, although he did later make a full recovery.

He was also known for his distinctive portrayals of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors and Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

In the light of the news, fans of the Hollywood star have been reminiscing about some of his most idiosyncratic encounters with stars of the music world.

Kilmer had been aware that Dylan was a fan of his 1993 Western film Tombstone, and on a visit to New York, he called a mutual friend to ask about the possibility of meeting up with him. “And the next call I got – I thought it was going to be my friend, but it wasn’t, it was Bob,” Kilmer once recalled.

Once Bob Dylan came over to hang. So flattered. He kept askin for Doc Holiday quotes. I said "Ok sing some #Blowininthewind 1st". Wrong ans!

— Val Kilmer (@valkilmer) February 3, 2017

“I was real excited, like a crazy fan, like a child; it was so great,” he continued. “It was like we were old friends. So he hangs up the phone. I was newly married, and we had a baby, and I went in and said, ‘I think Bob Dylan’s coming over … I’m not sure. It could be a hoax.’”

“He shows up and sits down, and he wants to talk about Tombstone, but I just can’t, you know, nor can I talk about any of his stuff. Eventually, he says, ‘Ain’t you going to say anything about that movie?’ and I said, ‘Do some ‘Blowin’ in the Wind.’ That’s what I said to him. Basically, I said no. I get like that sometimes.”

Bob Dylan on Val Kilmer pic.twitter.com/hQvxTwrj54

— HarryHew (@harryhew) April 2, 2025

“I felt so bad about it. I was like, how could I make it up to him?” he added. “So what I did was, I recorded ‘It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ but as Doc Holliday [from Tombstone], and I put in all of the big lines from the movie into the song and made him a little tape.”

“I don’t even know if he listened to it,” Kilmer admitted. “I mean, I handed it off to someone who was supposed to get it to him, but you never know with Bob. He might have tossed it in a drawer, or maybe he plays it every morning – who knows?”

val kilmer and bob dylan in ‘masked and anonymous,’ 2002 pic.twitter.com/MWY2u5L61H

— sav (@smokingsexxtion) April 2, 2025

Kilmer once shared another surreal encounter with a music legend, tweeting in 2013: “I once tickled Lou Reed. I regretted it for the longest while as he spoke to me few times after that dinner. But I’m glad now. He needed it.”

I once tickled Lou Reed. I regretted it for the longest while as he spoke to me few times after that dinner. But I'm glad now. He needed it.

— Val Kilmer (@valkilmer) October 29, 2013

In the hours since the announcement, tributes have come in from Kilmer’s Hollywood contemporaries and friends. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Michael Mann said, “While working with Val on Heat I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news”.

Tributes have also come in from actor Josh Brolin, who said “I’m going to miss you”, Stranger Things  actor Matthew Modine said: “If it wasn’t for our chance encounter at the Source in 1985, I may never have been cast in FULL METAL JACKET. Thanks, Val”. Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes shared an image from their 1998 animated film The Prince Of Egypt along with a tribute.

The post Val Kilmer fans are re-sharing these brilliant stories of his run-in with Bob Dylan and “tickling” Lou Reed appeared first on NME.