Random Most Outrageous Backstage Rider Requests (25 items)

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  (#1) Mariah Carey

  • Pop, Contemporary R&B

  With a reputation for being a diva, nothing Mariah Carey demands in her rider should be too much of a shock. One hundred white doves and a dozen kittens, though? That's pretty extra.

  Apparently, Carey wanted these animals surrounding her at an appearance to turn on Christmas lights. She didn't get her wish, though, as it was opposed by health and safety officials.

  "We did manage to source the doves that we were going to release into the sky, but the kittens proved terribly difficult," an official stated. "In the end, it was made clear that due to health and safety, there was no way we could have the animals at Westfield. We do not allow pets into Westfield - that rule would apply for everyone."
• 

  (#2) Kanye West

  • Hip hop

  According to a rider from an Australian tour, Kanye West required that his drivers - yes, his drivers - wear 100% cotton and no other fabric while transporting him from place to place.

  That's about as odd a requirement as one could imagine from a pop star at any level. 
• 

  (#3) Christina Aguilera

  • Hip hop music, Bubblegum pop, Rock music, Swing music, Electronic music, Dance-pop, Latin pop, Rhythm and blues, Jazz, Electronica, Blues, Adult contemporary music, Pop music, Teen pop, Dance music, Contemporary R&B, Pop rock, Soul music

  According to her tour rider, Christina Aguilera isn't a fan of traffic. In fact, she hates it so much that she demands a police escort to every show. The rider stipulates that Christina and her team need to be escorted through traffic, and that "under no circumstances are the vehicles to be allowed to encounter any delays due to traffic."

  That's a pretty intense thing to ask of both a concert promoter and local police. 
• 

  (#4) Madonna

  • Pop, Electronica

  Madonna is basically pop royalty, and her tour rider pretty much reflects that. She's got some standard diva stuff in there, like personal chefs and whatnot, but there are also quite a few items that are extravagent and shocking. Would you believe Madonna demands a brand-new toilet seat everywhere she goes?

  Stuff like that is rumored to be all over her rider, but there's one requirement that really tops them all: She reportedly ships all of her furniture around with her, and demands that any hotel furniture be removed and replaced with her own. That way, anywhere she goes feels like home. 
• 

  (#5) Katy Perry

  • Pop, Rock, Disco

  Katy Perry has some pretty specific demands for her floral arrangements backstage - namely, an absolute disdain for carnations. The "Firework" singer apparently asks for "white and purple hydrangeas, pink & white roses and peonies" but makes it clear in all caps (and underlined) that "ABSOLUTELY NO CARNATIONS" are allowed. 

  Aside from that flower request, Perry's rider stipulates that drivers are under no circumstances allowed to talk to her while she's being escorted, nor are they allowed to even look at her in the rearview mirror. 
• 

  (#6) Slayer

  • Thrash metal, Groove metal, Rock music, Heavy metal, Speed metal

  Slayer's tour rider might get the prize for the weirdest of all time - even though it's very clearly a joke. The metal band requests a variety of outlandish things in their rider, including 50,000 live bees, 10 cases of Gogurt, a Bowflex, a human skull filled with Red Hots, and more.

  The thing that makes it the greatest rider ever? Their request for "100 snow-white goats for slaughter." That's a metal rider if there ever was one.
• 

  (#7) Axl Rose

  • Heavy metal, Hard rock

  Axl Rose became notorious for his antics and aggressive behavior on stage and off. None of that, however, tops perhaps the strangest thing he's ever done: request a square melon in his tour rider.

  Yes, you read that correctly. The Guns N' Roses singer reportedly requested on his rider that venues provide him with a square-shaped melon - something that apparently exists. According to reports, the melon is described as an item that "absolutely can't be missed." 
• 

  (#8) 'N Sync

  • Bubblegum pop, Pop music, Teen pop, Dance-pop, Contemporary R&B, Dance music, Rhythm and blues, Soul music, A cappella, Boy band

  In the backstage rider for NSYNC's world tour, there were plenty of standard items that you'd expect to see on just about any artist's request list. On one page of the rider, however, there was a request for a particularly interesting room alongside standard catering and dressing rooms: a toy room.

  At the time, the members of NSYNC were fairly young, but a toy room still seems unusual. What kind of toys were present in this room? One can only imagine. 
• 

  (#9) Jay-Z

  • Hip hop

  When you're Jay-Z, you can pretty much demand anything on the road without question, so it's not totally shocking that he wants the absolute best ground transportation anywhere he goes. In particular, he's requested a black '57 or '62 Maybach with tinted windows.

  Also featured in Mr. Beyonce's rider: expensive champagne and a dressing room stocked with booze of all different kinds. 
• 

  (#10) Brandon Flowers

  • Synthpop, New Wave, Heartland rock, Alternative rock, Indie rock, Post-punk revival

  The Killers' Brandon Flowers might not seem like the kind of guy to have an odd tour rider demand. According to his solo rider, however, Flowers demands a certain schedule in which his food and beverages will be provided on certain days. Essentially, he bans certain foods from certain days of the week.

  In the rider, Flowers's representative says he eats certain preserves only on certain days of the week. Sundays and Tuesdays are reserved for strawberry, for example. Flowers eats apricot preserves on Mondays and Thursdays, and he saves red raspberry jam for Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, according to The Smoking Gun. 
• 

  (#11) Rihanna

  • R&B, Pop, Hip hop

  A 2010 rider request from singer Rihanna went viral after it was revealed that she demanded an animal print throw rug at every venue. 

  The rider specifies: "1 Large throw rug, plush and animal print (Cheetah, Leopard), must be CLEAN, as she will walk on it barefoot." The pop star also called for six very specific candles: Archipelago Black Forest Candles.
• 

  (#12) Van Halen

  • Glam metal, Rock music, Heavy metal, Hard rock

  Perhaps the most notorious and well-known rider demand in the history of rock and roll, Van Halen's brown M&M's stipulation is actually quite practical and done for a sensible reason. (It's still pretty outrageous, though, if you consider the fact that every single venue had to adhere to these exact demands.)

  The story goes that the band, whose shows had intense production and technical specifications that could be immense safety hazards, decided to test production staff at venues in order to gauge whether the technical aspects were up to their standard. If the venue complied with Van Halen's request, and there were indeed no brown M&M's in their candy bowl, the band knew that the production met all their standards for safety and technical specifications.
• 

  (#13) The Rolling Stones

  • Blues-rock, Rock music, Protopunk, Rhythm and blues, Rock and roll, Country, Psychedelic rock, Blues, Hard rock

  It's easy to give the Rolling Stones a pass on pretty much anything questionable in their tour rider, given that they're one of the most legendary and longest-running bands of all time. That said, one particular request is definitely eyebrow-raising.

  According to reports, on their 1997-'98 world tour, the band required that "two smartly-dressed, well groomed hostesses" meet them in their dressing rooms to serve them food. Apparently, it's not as dirty as it sounds; they literally wanted well-dressed female waitresses at their service upon their arrival at the venue.
• 

  (#14) Beyoncé Knowles

  • R&B, Pop, Hip hop

  Turns out, Beyonce is pretty sensitive to temperature. Or at least that appears to be the case, according to a leaked rider. Among such demands, like all white furniture and two bars of Irish Spring soap, Queen Bey insists that the temperature in her dressing room should be a comfortable 72 degrees at all times. 

  All in all, her rider is pretty tame for one of the most successful pop stars of all time. But it raises the question: What happens if the temperature is a couple degrees off? 
• 

  (#15) Gnarls Barkley

  • Hip hop music, Alternative hip hop, Neo soul, Electronic music, Contemporary R&B, Rhythm and blues, Alternative rock, Soul music, Hip hop soul, Funk

  Gnarls Barkley made some really incredible music, and they took advantage of their fame and popularity by asking for some essentials in their tour rider. Namely, the duo wanted blunts and bottles of Hennessy and Grey Goose vodka. They also required a box of magnum condoms.

  The musicians are far from the only ones to request these particular prophylactics. Other stars like Busta Rhymes and 50 Cent have also demanded condoms on the road. 
• 

  (#16) Pharrell Williams

  • Pop, Funk, Hip hop

  Pharrell Williams has acknowleged his love for the late Carl Sagan numerous times, explaining that he's got a deep admiration for the legendary astronomer and cosmologist. Taking his love for Sagan one step further, Williams reportedly requests a photo of Sagan in his dressing room. 

  "I can only aspire to be someone that people learn as much from as they learned from Carl Sagan. Carl Sagan is to me what A Tribe Called Quest was to [N*E*R*D] for music," Williams said in an interview about Sagan's influence on him. 
• 

  (#17) Iggy Pop

  • Punk blues, Garage rock, Protopunk, Heavy metal, Glam rock, Blues, Hard rock, Shock rock, Experimental rock, Glam punk, Punk rock, Art rock, Post-punk

  Iggy Pop has become known for his backstage riders, which are filled with outlandish requests that are sometimes completely bonkers.

  One of the silliest stipulations in Pop's rider is that he requires an English-language newspaper like The New York Times - but also notes that he'd be okay with USA Today if there's a "story about morbidly obese people" in it.

  Truly the work of an old-school punk rocker who doesn't take himself too seriously. 
• 

  (#18) AC/DC

  • Blues-rock, Boogie rock, Rock music, Heavy metal, Rock and roll, Hard rock

  It's pretty unclear as to why AC/DC would need oxygen tanks and masks on tour, but apparently they do. According to a 2008 rider, the band requested tanks and masks in addition to some pretty reasonable requests, including "fun size" candy bars and a case of beer.

  The beer wasn't allowed in dressing rooms before the show, however. Perhaps because they were filling up on oxygen?
• 

  (#19) Cher

  • Hip hop music, Rock music, Dance-pop, Electronic dance music, Rhythm and blues, Country, Electronica, Techno, Adult contemporary music, Disco, Pop music, Folk music, Folk rock, Traditional pop music, Dance music, Contemporary R&B, Pop rock

  It shouldn't be surprising that Cher would have a wig room in her backstage rider. The pop star's hair has become a major part of her performances. That said, imagine being such a big star, with so many wigs, that you require an entire room dedicated to them just for your show.
• 

  (#20) Ne-Yo

  • Hip hop music, Pop music, Contemporary R&B, Dance music, Rhythm and blues, Soul music

  For whatever reason, Ne-Yo likes to have a bottle of Ketel One handy for cleaning. Yes, the R&B star reportedly requests the popular vodka in every city so that he can use it to clean something, though precisely what is unknown. Clothes, jewelry, microphones?

  It's unclear as to why he specifically requires Ketel One, or why he doesn't just have someone take care of his drycleaning, but to each their own.
• 

  (#21) Britney Spears

  • Pop, Contemporary R&B, Electronica

  At a show in London, Britney Spears apparently requested a photo of the late Princess Diana for her dressing room, as well as fish and chips and some other stereotypically British things. The Diana photo, a source said, was because she "adores the monarchy."

  "Diana was in many ways her inspiration," the source explained. Spears also requested McDonald's cheeseburgers, minus the buns. 
• 

  (#22) One Direction

  • Pop rock

  It turns out that everyone's favorite short-lived boy band had a collective sweet tooth. One Direction reportedly required an array of "homemade" desserts backstage, in addition to local fast food depending on where they were (Chick-fil-A or KFC, etc.). 

  Apparently, Niall Horan's favorite dessert is profiteroles (cream puffs, for American readers). 
• 

  (#23) Jack White

  • Blues-rock, Punk blues, Rock music, Garage rock, Country rock, Pop rock, Alternative rock, Bluegrass, Alternative country, Indie rock

  Rocker Jack White went viral after his tour rider leaked and revealed an unorthodox request. Sure, there were some essentials and some unsurprising requirements like specific foods and beverages, but White also included a recipe in his rider for guacamole. According to reports, he requires that the recipe be made prior to his arrival.

  In an interview with NPR, chef Martin Morales said he tried the recipe and approved of White's favorite guac. "It's down to the fresh ingredients and the timing of the way each ingredient is put together," Morales said. 
• 

  (#24) 50 Cent

  • Hip hop music, Gangsta rap

  50 Cent's rider seems pretty standard, with food and beverage requests, though he apparently doesn't like pork at all.

  A leaked rider revealed that the rapper completely banned pork from anywhere in his vicinity at all times. He did, however, welcome a couple boxes of Lifestyles Rough Riders condoms.
• 

  (#25) The Rolling Stones' Written Instructions

  Sometimes it's easy to forget that the Rolling Stones are old, since they've been touring nonstop for half a century. But, if you need a reminder that they're most certainly aging rockers, look no further than their tour rider.

  In their list of venue requirements, the band reportedly specifies that they need written instructions for all electronics in their dressing rooms to ensure that the members know how to use them properly. In other words, they're not very technologically savvy. 

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