It is pretty standard that many
celebrities are too picky and like wielding their power; the riders most plainly demonstrate this trait they attach to their contracts and the requirements they place on their managers. Sometimes these are wholly outrageous and give you a clear insight into their quirky personalities and neurosis, but other times they are having a bit of fun with the promoters and do not expect all of their demands to be met.
In either case, you can learn much about a person's personality and neurosis from reading their needs. As the riders are continuously moving, their demands will frequently center on necessities such as food, water, and clothing; nevertheless, you may also receive some peculiar inquiries that are certain to cause some people to scratch their heads.
1. Madonna
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Madonna is unique and fascinating, and her rider reflects this. Madonna demands a new toilet seat in her dressing room at every tour stop. You can understand why you'd want a clean toilet seat, but it would be faster and cheaper to clean it before she arrived or get toilet seat coverings. This is a request from the queen of pop and Mary J. Blige. Madonna has requested 6-inch white and pink roses and her furniture at locations.
2. Justin Timberlake
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Justin Timberlake disinfects every doorknob backstage, and he stays in hotels every two hours (at least he doesn't replace them every time). JT also asks not to share the elevator on tour or at a party, presumably to avoid small conversation or awkward silence (we wouldn't mind). Timberlake and his entourage reportedly demand a whole hotel floor to themselves while on tour so they can have crazy parties.
3. David Hasselhoff
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David Hasselhoff used to request a life-sized cardboard cut-out of himself to use instead of a mirror before performing. Hoff became renowned through Knight Rider and Baywatch, but he's more recognized for being David Hasselhoff and his weird music career, which is huge in Germany. The story of his cardboard cut-out demand will only help his legacy. While not the toughest to meet at each place, it is one of the most unusual.
4. Mariah Carey
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She once demanded a gum-disposal attendant and a dressing room with two dozen white roses, Cristal champagne, and bendy straws. We can understand her most famous request, but arranging it each night must be a logistical nightmare. Carey wants her dressing room packed with puppies, rabbits, bunnies, and other soft
animals before going on stage. In recent years, Carey has had a more modest rider.
5. Beyonce
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Beyonce has some fascinating and ridiculous backstage requirements, and you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of the business's most powerful lady. Her tour specifications include 100% cotton attire, titanium drinking straws (for alkaline water), water served at exactly 21 degrees, and white walls. She wants hand-carved ice balls to suck. This is to help her throat and singing, but why they need to be hand-carved is a puzzle.
6. Paul McCartney
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Paul McCartney is generally regarded, but he's also known for making unusual and stringent backstage requests. As a vegetarian, McCartney expects no animal goods (meat or leather) backstage or in his limos. No animal prints! While his goals are clear, he also specifies 19 leafy 6-foot plants, four leafy 4-foot plants, and no trees. These demands may have evolved since 2002 when he was married to Heather Mills, but he still requests a bomb-sniffing dog search of the arena before the event.
7. Jennifer Lopez
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Her rider asks to prove she's not "still Jenny from the block." Her outlandish backstage requests include a 40-foot-long, white trailer (white room, flowers, tables, drapes, candles, and couches). In 2010, the artist requested $4,500 diamond-encrusted headphones for the World Music Awards to muffle out the sound of her champagne-stocked speedboat. Diamond-encrusted headphones appear excessive. She also wants her coffee stirred counterclockwise.
8. Iggy & The Stooges
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Iggy Pop, one of the most influential and eccentric musicians, and The Stooges created a renowned 18-page tour rider. This massive paper's greatest and most absurd part is "seven dwarves dressed as those from the Walt
Disney film." If dwarves weren't available, a belly dancer would do. This and most other requests were unrealistic and never met (as far as we know). It's just a band having fun with the promoter. Iggy once met Ron Howard and said he has a face "you'd never get tired of punching."
9. Van Halen
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Van Halen's 1982 tour rider requested a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones picked out. As The Smoking Gun's editor indicated, this was a test to determine if promoters were paying attention to what was listed. What's to say they haven't made mistakes with lighting, music gear, security, etc., if they uncover brown M&Ms? Many bands and artists like to have fun with their rides, but it's also a power play the other entries on this list.