It always amazes me how people can become “groupies,” following bands and singers around the world and becoming super-fans. Why these people are idolized is beyond me. Even after knowing about some of their demanding diva dispositions, which should be an immediate turn-off, the groupies tend to grow in number rather than dwindle away.
It should be obvious that the citation of these examples is in no way an endorsement. Rather, it’s an illustration of how conceited people can become when elevated to stardom.
Arethra Franklin: “Franklin’s performance contract banned air conditioning — everywhere. “All air conditioning vents must be turned off or taped shut, to prevent any cold air from flowing into Aretha Franklin’s dressing room,” the document read (via The Smoking Gun). “In addition, all vents from Ms. Franklin’s dressing room, backstage area and stage and in the venue, must be turned off at least one hour prior to Ms. Franklin’s scheduled rehearsal and performance times.”
And whatever small fortune Franklin stood to gain from what could have been a very warm and uncomfortable evening, the singer was contractually entitled to a down payment. Sometime during the day of the performance, Franklin, and Franklin alone, was to be given a $25,000 payment in cash from the promoter.
Jack White: Rocker Jack White simply can’t perform without access to chips and guacamole. It’s a very important snack to White, but not just any store-bought, restaurant-prepared, or even freshly made guacamole will suffice. His rider includes not only a request for guacamole, but detailed instructions for how to make the exact guacamole that White wants to eat.
Per White’s directive, a member of the backstage crew needs to carefully slice and cube
eight large Haas avocados and combine the flesh with four diced vine-ripened tomatoes, half of a chopped yellow onion, an entire bunch of cilantro, four deveined and chopped Serrano peppers, lime, salt, and pepper. White also wants the pits from the avocados saved and placed inside the guacamole, which ideally shouldn’t be served any later than 5 p.m. on show nights.
Stevie Nicks: Nicks was a singer-songwriter for Fleetwood Mac. In the lead-up to Fleetwood Mac’s arrival in town, promoters had to find Nicks a luxurious hotel room and then make sure it was painted almost entirely pink. One of only a few things that didn’t need to be that color was a piano — Nicks demanded an all-white instrument be placed in her room, should she be in the mood to compose a song during her stay.
Mic Jagger: Wherever and whenever his band plays a concert, Jagger gets to stay in a room at one of the nicest and most expensive hotels in the area. He also gets to enjoy a brand-new bed. Before he arrives for his brief stay, the establishment must bring in a new, never-used mattress and leave it encased in the thin plastic wrapper in which it’s shipped. Then, before Jagger deems it suitable for his use, an employee spends a night sleeping on it — on top of the plastic — in order to soften it just a little.
Bruce Springsteen: “The Boss” tours with a 37-page list containing more than 100 hyper-specific requests that he needs his large crew to fulfill.
Someone, or someones, must ensure that a broth-heavy cauldron of chicken soup is ready to go before the concert, and that exactly 16 cold, large shrimp are available to eat afterward, along with two small bags of Rold Gold pretzels. The shrimp require a homemade sauce; no other brands are allowed in place of the Rold Gold. Other backstage food and food-related Springsteen needs include a 16-ounce bottle of hand-squeezed lemon juice and six hard-boiled egg whites. Springsteen’s wife and backing musician Patti Scialfa wants to see three fashion magazines in her own dressing room, along with a vase of all-white roses, and guitarist Steven Van Zandt will dine only on seafood that’s been wild-caught.
Prince: “He had a rule, and that was we were always to call him boss, and never to look into his eyes directly,” graphic designer Lizz Frey told The Mirror. When fellow rock star Sammy Hagar asked Prince’s guitar tech, Zeke Clark, for a backstage introduction in 1985, Clark couldn’t help him because his wasn’t permitted to talk to the boss.
When Prince performed at the Hop Farm Festival in the U.K. in June 2011, his tour rider called for a dressing room that was painted his favorite color, purple, and populated with purple furniture and decorations. Previous tours compelled organizers to supply Prince with an oxygen bar and a device that dispensed only black M&Ms, and consumables and objects in the artist’s quarters had to be covered in plastic wrap that only Prince could remove upon arrival.1
Does anyone else find this behavior extremely disturbing? Yet, people will cater to the wants and whims of these people, inflating their egos, and creating monsters with whom promoters must interact. Why would promoters put up with this? $$$ Lot’s of $$$. What they get out of the deal causes them to jump through hoops, making themselves look ridiculous as they pamper these prima donnas.
Oh, it’s not just celebrities that cause others to act foolishly. James had something to say about this in James 2:1-7. “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. (2) For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; (3) And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: (4) Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? (5) Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? (6) But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? (7) Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?”
James chides the “twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1) for their illogical partiality. They are cozying up to those who have oppressed them, arrested them, and have blasphemed the name of the Lord all because they are rich. The bling of the unrighteous has bedazzled and blinded the good senses of the righteous. All the while, they have treated “a poor man in vile raiment” as vile. A pandering priesthood of believers is despicable! If we are willing to cater to demanding, degrading behavior in order to get something out of it, what does that say about us?
We need to treat all people with equity, fairness, grace, and love. We cannot be swayed nor give any thought as to what they can do for us. That only makes us selfish individuals. Instead, we need to follow the example of Jesus and acknowledged by the Pharisees who actually got something right, even though they intended their comments to be a setup for a trap.”
Matthew 22:15-16 says, “Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. (16) And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.”
1All statements concerning the rock stars are directly taken from https://www.grunge.com/1881941/strict-rules-famous-musicians-made-people-follow-on-tour/
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