The stars can come with some wacky requests. Here are some of the demands of rock stars when on tour.
Ozzy Osbourne must have an eye, ear, nose, and throat doctor at each venue.
Meat Loaf a mask and one small tank of oxygen. David Bowie requests a dressing room temperature between 14c and 18c, and Paul McCartney must have a large arrangement of white Casablanca lilies in his dressing room. Mick Jagger must have an onstage autocue with the lyrics to all the songs, it would also tell him the name of the city in which they were performing.
In 2007 Prince requested a venue to build him a luxury five-bedroom home in London. A 2004 rider required “all items in the dressing room must be covered by clear plastic wrap until uncovered by the main artist. This is absolutely necessary.”
Cher and her managers don’t wear backstage passes. End of story. Her rider points out that people should familiarize themselves with their faces because they won’t be wearing them.
British rock band Status Quo, for example, refused to play a show because their rider-requested Marks & Spencer white tube socks were not in their dressing rooms.
Van Halen’s 53-page 1982 rider included requests for “one large tube K-Y Jelly” and, most famously, “M&Ms, WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES”). David Lee Roth says it was actually an ingenious test of a venue’s attention to detail.
“So in the middle of this huge contract rider… it was like a Chinese phonebook… I had them place a clause, in the middle of nowhere,” David Lee Roth explains in a 2012 interview with NPR. “If I saw brown M&Ms on a catering table, then I knew the promoter did not read the full rider.” If he found a venue in breach of contract, they canceled the show, and the promoter would have to pay out in full.
Elton John requires a six-foot sofa, love seat, easy chairs, table lamps, floor standing lamps, a coffee table, 6-foot banquet tables (covered with white linen tablecloths), large green plants, a large arrangement of colored flowers (no chrysanthemums, lilies, carnations, or daisies).
AC/DC asks for tea, coffee, sparkling water, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Gatorade, 1 bottle of white wine, 1 bottle of red wine, Bailey’s (for drummer Phil Rudd), cheese, raw vegetables, sweets, chewing gum. A proper meal with, for example, salad, mashed potatoes with gravy, sausages or lamb cutlets or beef, custard, and cake. Cartons of cigarettes and tobacco so (singer) Brian Johnson can roll his own.
Amy Winehouse requested Absolut vodka (must be Absolut), Jack Daniel’s, selection of fine beers (for the band), PG Tips tea bags, water. Jerk chicken, rice and peas, pizza (Margherita), vegetarian and non-vegetarian sandwiches. Doritos, nuts, and bananas. Camel Lights, several joss sticks (in a variety of fragrances), fresh towels, and a sign for the door that read: “Only Big Boys Can Enter.”
Eminem is simple. Other than fruit, food, and drinks, he just wants access to some weights to work out, a CD player that can play burned CDs, and some Lunchables.
Seven dwarves, pizzas to give to the homeless, and pre-chopped broccoli florets, to make them easier to throw away are on Iggy Pop’s rider.
Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx has interesting rider requests. He asks for a supply of clean ice, 4 self-contained candles, 1 boa constrictor (not to be less than 15 ft), 1 machete, 1 stainless steel double-bladed combat/survival knife (not serrated), 1 fully suppressed Heckler & Koch MP-5 SD sub-machine gun and 500 9mm rounds.
Elvis, the King, humbly asked for 10 soft drinks and 4 cups of water. Yet it was in the 50s.
Beyoncé’s dressing room must be at 78 degrees and she asks for chicken legs “HEAVILY SEASONED” with cayenne pepper, fresh garlic, seasoning salt, and black pepper. Her room must have rose-scented candles.
Drake requests Nivea chapstick and Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap, which he says “tingles the body and clears the mind.”
Christina Aguilera requests a police escort, adding that “under no circumstances are the vehicles to be allowed to encounter any delays due to traffic.”
Justin Timberlake requires someone to disinfect the doorknobs at any backstage venue or hotel he’s in every two hours, the elevator to himself, and an entire floor of a hotel.
For a tour, diva Mariah Carey requested a bottle of Cristal champagne, complete with bendy straws for sipping. Oh, and she was also in need of a person whose sole purpose was to throw away her gum.
