When these stars go on tour they take the label ‘diva’ to a whole new level. It is standard that they would generally travel with an entourage who take care of their ‘needs’ but also many requests are sent in advance to the people organising the event at the particular venues. This list of requests is better known as a rider.
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Van Halen reportedly became the original whacky rider requesters with the idea that they believed if they snuck in some strange asks and their demands were met then the venue and the organisers were up to scratch on all levels including security. They famously asked for all the brown M&M’s to be removed from the candy bowls way back in 1982. They kept up the oddities when they followed that up with wanting herring in sour cream and one large tube of KY Jelly!
The following are genuine demands made by stars that sent the most bizarre or extravagant backstage riders…
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JAMES BROWN. The Sex Machine singer had a pretty twisted idea of what was necessary to have in his dressing room;
· an electric golf cart
· two girls under the age of 21
· a hooded ladies hair dryer. Say no more.
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LADY GAGA kept her demands pretty sane when she asked for Jameson Irish Whiskey, posters of her favourite rock stars (David Bowie, Elton John and Billy Joel) to be hung on the walls of her dressing room. She also kept it fairly standard when she requested 56 bottles of water; 28 cold, 28 at room temperature. Even when she asked for all the walls of her room to be draped in black and silver satin plus a fully equipped smoothie station, it didn’t seem like such a big deal. Then finally she made us breathe a sigh of relief when she took it up a big notch in the weirdo stakes and demanded a mannequin with puffy pink pubic hair! There’s the Gaga we all know and love.
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KANYE WEST has a thing about man-made fibres in that he flatly refuses to be near them. He therefore demands that any drivers he has during a tour must only be dressed in pure cotton only. He also has a penchant for “imported and re-cut Versace towels” which must always be available wherever he may roam.
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JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE demands that a member of staff must clean and disinfect each and every door knob that he may potentially come in to contact with. Not just once but every two hours. Runs a clean ship — right down to the door knobs!
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KATY PERRY lives up to her pop princess status when she sent a rider demanding an array of furniture to be arranged in her dressing room;
· a Perspex, modern style coffee table
· two “French ornate” floor lamps
· a glass fronted fridge
· two cream coloured “egg” chairs with a footstool and the entire room to be draped in cream or pale pink.
Not forgetting the super specific flower arrangements consisting of white and purple hydrangeas, pink and white roses and peonies. Oh and “ABSOLUTELY NO CARNATIONS.”
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IGGY POP doesn’t do anything by halves; one of his tour riders was a mere eighteen pages long and bordered on the absolutely ridiculous. The list included the following:
· “a USA Today article about morbidly obese people
· seven short people (dwarves or taller people if they have the right attitude!) dressed up as characters from Snow White
· a Bob Hope impersonator on call 24-7
· a pack of cards, “For me… in case one of the band’s girlfriends fancies a quick game of strip poker while the band are on stage”
This must have been written during a less than sober moment but the poor venue organizers simply have to take these demands seriously and supply all of the above.
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EMINEM has changed his ways and keeps a very clean and sober dressing room these days. No requests befitting his old ways in sight but he would like a Koi Carp fish pond thanks very much.
PAUL MCCARTNEY’S flora and fauna rider requested nineteen leafy 6ft tall plants and four leafy 4ft plants…to be precise.
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MARIAH CAREY is one of the major divas of our time. Her backstage demands stretch to the extreme:
· Cristal champagne
· a box of bendy straws
· an attendant whose sole purpose is to dispose of used chewing gum
· a tea service for eight
· a Honey Bear bottle of honey
· two air purifiers
· a puppy, 20 white kittens
· plenty of vitamin water in which to bathe her dogs
· black, dark grey, cream or dark pink pattern-free furniture only
Oh, and of course the thing that should be on every girl’s list – 100 white doves! Really Mariah? Really?
THE FOO FIGHTERS generally write really amusing riders which although complicated must raise a few laughs when received by the event coordinators. They ask for:
· plenty of “God’s currency”, also known as bacon
· twenty-four large bath towels, which, “If they are new and unwashed, you will receive a wedgie.”
· “If Solo Cups are not available please find a store that sells 16oz plastic drinking cups and then offer the shopkeeper some currency in exchange for said cups. Once again, you have the time of our booking to find this stuff. No snippy ass, tiny tim, two drops of dew in a cup sized cup, please. I WILL CALL OUT A CATERING JIHAD IF WE DO NOT HAVE THESE CUPS.”
Another began with a request that their fat roadies eat immediately on arrival so they have energy for “their arduous 70 to 90 minute work day.” However, the band requested vegetarian soups for their fat roadies to avoid noxious gas issues. The 2008 rider also demanded one bag of Pirate Booty, a selection of cereals not recycled from “last night’s Dio show,” four bottles of Gatorade in “wacky colors” and DVDs that don’t feature Jamie Kennedy, Martin Lawrence or sports!
MARILYN MANSON appears surprisingly down to earth with his demands at first:
· Haribo gummy bears
· Doritos
· popcorn and a bottle of Absinthe for example, but read on and he stays true to his shock rocker persona when he asks for “a bald-headed, toothless hooker.” Words cannot express how wrong that is.
PRINCE lives up to his peculiar character when he demanded a physician to administer B-12 injections and that all the items in the dressing room absolutely must be covered in clear plastic wrap until uncovered by the artist himself.
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BRITNEY SPEARS does not hold back with her tour riders. She has asked for:
· two boxes of Pop Tarts
· Fruit Loops
· cable television
· two 6ft sofas
· odour-free carpet
· fish-and-chips and McDonald’s cheeseburgers without the buns
Getting into the realms of very strange, according to British tabloid The Daily Mirror, she also demanded a framed photo of Princess Diana. And, lest we forget she’s a diva at heart, she told the O2 venue they would be fined $5,000 if the phone ever rang in her dressing room!
MADONNA. The Queen of pop won’t park her backside any old place! With that in mind, it’s not surprising that Madonna demands a fresh, brand new toilet seat be fixed in the bathroom of every venue! Madge also requires 20 international phone lines; lilies and white and light-pink roses that have stems trimmed to precisely 6 inches and 25 cases of Kabbalah water.
JENNIFER LOPEZ. She may claim to be good old Jenny from the block but she has definitely veered from her roots and become yet another greedy, spoilt little diva princess. Her rider list included:
· coffee to be stirred counter-clockwise
· skittles
· room temperature be kept at a strict 25.5°C
· two humidifiers and two oscillating fans
· room temperature Evian water
· no tomato, apple or grape juices
· her dressing room be painted white and everything inside be white too… including white flowers, white tables and tablecloths, white drapes, white candles, white sheets, white couches, white lilies, white roses…more like Jenny from the Ritz!
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P DIDDY takes indulgence and excess to the maximum with his demands for:
· 204 towels
· 20 bars of soap
· two bottles of Hennessy cognac
· two bottles of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio
· two bottles of Veuve Clicquot
· a bottle of Dom Perignon
· Grey Goose vodka
· a Boom box
· a bouquet of white flowers
· cheddar cheese and sour-cream chips
· Sweet Tarts
And, just to top it off, a $300,000 bullet-proof Maybach!
RIHANNA. Last but not least the Disturbia singer is pretty specific when it comes to ambience; here’s the list of dressing room requirements sent by her team.
· 5 AC power outlets
· adequate lighting for a relaxed atmosphere
· white drapes to cover lockers and/or brick
· 1 humidifier
· 1 large throw rug — plush and animal print (Cheetah, Leopard)… must be CLEAN, as she will walk on it barefoot
· pipe and drape the room in dark blue or black drapes with icy blue chiffon draped nicely on top
· 6 candles — Archipelago Black Forest (if you can’t get these, please let me know ASAP as we have a 2nd choice of candle for Ri)
· 4 small, clear, square vases with white tulips, no foliage (2nd choice: white casablanca lilies no foliage, 3rd choice: white freesia, no foliage).
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