In order for an artist to perform, there are certain needs that must be met. That is where a rider comes in. A document stating the essential items that a venue must provide a musician or band, the rider says a lot about an artist.
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The food and drinks they want, how the dressing room furniture should be arranged, even down to the lighting and scents they prefer, anything is fair game on a rider. Because of this, some outlandish requests have come by way of these documents. From sub-machine guns to Bob Hope impersonators, can you match the unusual request with the artist?
1. Two Dozen Oysters Unshucked
There is nothing strange about wanting oysters in your dressing room, but on Grace Jones’ rider there’s a caveat. She asks for two dozen Findeclare or Colchester Oysters on ice and unopened with an oyster knife supplied. “Grace does her own shucking,” the rider reads.
“I love shucking my own oysters,” she once raved in an interview. “I’m very good at it. I’m a professional shucker. There’s a pleasure in the ritual … It makes me feel really good going through the ritual. Some people shuck them and they don’t look pretty. I believe they really have to look pretty when you open them. I like the high they give me. There’s nothing like an oyster high.”
2. 20 International Phone Lines
A tabloid once reported (per Huffington Post) that Madonna had one of the longest lists of demands while on tour, requiring everything from 20 international phone lines to light-pink roses with stems trimmed to exactly six inches in length.
3. A Sub-Machine Gun
At a time when Motley Crue was cleaning up their act, the band’s rider would request a list of local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, as well as reported items like a jar of creamy peanut butter, a sub-machine gun, a 12-foot-long boa constrictor, and a jar of Grey Poupon mustard.
4. A Framed Photo of Princess Diana
While on her 2011 Femme Fatale World Tour, Britney Spears’ stop at London’s O2 Arena reportedly saw an array of requests like bun-less McDonald’s cheeseburgers, an assortment of figs and prunes, and a framed photo of the late Princess Diana.
5. Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor
After years of rock and roll requests that only nursed unhealthy habits, Ozzy Osbourne’s 1999 tour rider was a far cry from the rocker’s norm. A number of oxygen tanks and a real Ear, Nose and Throat doctor with the ability to administer B-12 shots were on his list of requirements.
6. Separate Wig Room
In the 2000s, Cher required not one, not two, but nine separate dressing rooms while backstage on tour. Cher was, of course, in one of them. The artist’s singers and backup dancers were separated and placed in a number of them. Her wardrobe took one room and her wigs took another. However, if the room was large enough, the wardrobe and wigs could share a room.
7. No Brown M&Ms
Van Halen was notorious for their riders, which regularly insisted on bowls of M&M’s be supplied to concert venues, however, they must contain “ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES.” The reason for the over-the-top request? It was later revealed as a ploy to make sure their requests were being met at every tour stop. The band believed that if a venue couldn’t deliver on the “no brown M&M’s,” it was likely they couldn’t handle the band’s elaborate stage set-ups either.
“When I would walk backstage, if I saw a brown M&M in that bowl, well, line-check the entire production,” frontman David Lee Roth once stated. “Guaranteed you’re going to arrive at a technical error. They didn’t read the contract. Guaranteed you’d run into a problem. Sometimes it would threaten to just destroy the whole show. Something like, literally, life-threatening.”
8. Slushie Machines
Who knew Kanye West was a Slushie fan? On his Saint Pablo Tour, the rapper had two machines waiting for him backstage, but they weren’t emitting that blue concoction one encountered at a gas station. One of the machines dispensed a frozen Hennessy and Coke. The other produced Grey Goose and lemonade.
9. Homemade Guacamole (Recipe Included)
Containing items like chicken wings, fresh berries, hummus and pita chips, Jack White’s rider reads delicious, including the bowl of guacamole he requests. The rocker apparently requires a specific type of homemade guac and includes the recipe in his rider that should be followed to a T.
10. Somebody Dressed as Bob Hope
Iggy Pop once delivered to venues a whopping 18-page rider. While peppered with jokes, his rider also contained some serious requests, like the ingredients to make ginger-honey-lemon tea, a copy of a newspaper, mineral water, “decent” beer, and somebody dressed as Bob Hope.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
