Roger Moore dead: Bono's anecdote about how the James Bond actor got him into a Jay Z party is incredible

Sir Roger Moore passed away yesterday (23 May) at the age of 89 sparking an outpouring of tributes for the actor who appeared as James Bond in a total of seven films.

Moore's debonair, more seasoned take on the wise-cracking spy debuted in 1973's Live and Let Die starring in six more films up until A View to a Kill in 1986 (you can view our definitive ranking here).

His wry and amiable personality, which saw the actor embedded as a beloved Hollywood fixture, is now at the centre of many emerging anecdotes which detail the actor's downright coolness.

One such anecdote has resurfaced from Bono. In a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, the U2 frontman regaled a tale of how Moore basically got him into a high-profile party hosted by Jay Z and Beyoncé despite being too under-dressed for the high-profile occasion.

You can read the anecdote below in full:

“I was in Monte Carlo sitting in a pizza joint, and some very broad-shouldered men in suits with strong American accents came up and explained that Mr. Jay Z and the lovely Beyoncé were in the grill room, if I wanted to drop by. I said it was a kind invitation, but I'm really not dressed for that kind of thing, it's a very posh place. He came back 15 minutes later and said, 'Mr. Jay Z has organised it so that would not be a problem.' I said, 'I know the very strict dress code there,' because I've come up against it over the years, 'And tell him thank you very much for that, but...'

“The third time he came back and he said, 'He has the manager waiting.' I then looked over and I saw Roger Moore, and he said, 'Hello,' and I said, 'How are you doing?' and he said, 'Great, what are you doing?' I said, 'I'm off to see a friend of mine called Jay Z at the grill room.' He said, 'Jay Z?' I said, 'He's a great rapper.' His wife said, 'What is a rapper?' 'Well, it's hard to explain in a moment, but it's kind of about words and rhythm,' I said.

“Then I asked them if they'd like to say hello, knowing that if I arrived with Roger Moore, there's no way, even if it all went wrong, there's no way they're going to throw me out. He's the sharp-dressed man of sharp-dressed men, and he's with his beautiful wife. So we walk up, and sure enough, there's the manager.

“I walk up, we go up to the room, which I love, this beautiful room. The roof opens there, and it's where Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra used to hang out. I know it very well, and sometimes I go there, but I'm here now in a vest and jeans, looking like Jay Z's mechanic, and I walk in, and there's a whole bunch, there's Beyoncé, Lyor Cohen, and I just hear, 'It's motherf*ckin' James Bond! It's James Bond, I'm hanging out with James Bond!' I just think, 'What?'

"Then it just all starts to make sense to me. Hip-hop is so James Bond - the cars, the planes, the suits, the dresses, the guns, and I had no idea. It was like bringing Picasso to a bunch of painters."