Behind every big tour is a document most fans never see. It’s called a rider, and it’s a set of requests or demands that a performer sets as criteria for performance, typically fulfilled by the hosting venue. Some of those requests are dull. Others read like a dare.
Many of the best known examples have circulated for years, and some are probably exaggerated in the retelling. Still, the documents that have leaked or been confirmed show how strange life on the road can get. Here are seven of the wildest.
Van Halen and the Brown M&Ms
This is the most famous rider clause of all. Van Halen’s 1982 concert rider told promoters to provide M&M’s with every brown piece removed. The band reportedly warned they could cancel a show without reimbursement if the rider wasn’t respected.
For years it was read as pure rock star ego. David Lee Roth later explained it was a way to check whether organizers had read the band’s lengthy technical requirements. If a venue missed that small detail, the band assumed it might have overlooked bigger things, like stage safety.
Jack White’s Banana Ban
Jack White’s rider drew wide attention for one blunt line. He wrote NO BANANA TOUR, followed by the word Seriously, on his backstage rider. When the document circulated online in 2015, the banana prohibition and an unusually elaborate guacamole recipe stood out most.
The guacamole instructions were oddly precise. The recipe says it must be chunky and made from a certain variety of avocados, with the pits left inside to keep it from browning. It’s hard to say whether that’s fussiness or a joke, and probably it’s a bit of both.
Iggy Pop’s Eighteen Page Comedy
Some riders are demands, and some are performance art. The eighteen page document prepared for Iggy Pop and the Stooges in 2006 is remembered as one of the most entertaining ever. It clearly wasn’t taking itself too seriously.
The weirdest asks were hard to miss. One was a Bob Hope impersonator in the dressing room, and another was a copy of USA Today carrying a story about morbidly obese people. Nobody expects a venue to deliver on that, which is partly the point.
Prince and the Plastic Wrap
Prince’s rider was about control over the room. His 2004 tour rider required all items in the dressing room to be covered in clear plastic wrap until uncovered by the main artist. He also reportedly wouldn’t go near a plate of food that wasn’t covered with clingfilm.
The health angle went further. Prince was known to ask for a doctor with a vitamin B12 shot to be on call at all times. That’s a long way from a bowl of snacks.
Motley Crue’s Submachine Gun and Snake
If any band treated a rider as a wish list, it was Motley Crue. They basically requested everything they could think of, including a submachine gun, a detailed schedule of local AA meetings and a twelve foot boa constrictor.
The mix is the funny part. Weapons, wildlife and recovery meetings sit side by side on the same page. It reads like a band that couldn’t decide whether it was chasing chaos or trying to stay out of it.
Aerosmith and the Three Minute Corn
Aerosmith’s rider shows how much a band can change. After the band got sober, no booze was allowed backstage, but they did demand a keg of draft root beer and fresh corn on the cob. The corn had a strict timer too.
The wording is almost surgical. Aerosmith have been known to request fresh ears of corn, cooked for only three minutes. It’s a small thing, though it must have left some caterer staring at a clock.
Marilyn Manson and the Deep Freeze
Marilyn Manson’s rider leans on atmosphere. He is described as hell bent on air conditioning keeping the room as cold as possible. That’s a plain enough request for a dark stage persona, if not a comfortable one for the crew.
The snack order is more specific than the temperature. He also asks for Haribo gummi bears, and no other brand will do. Brand loyalty, it turns out, runs deep even in the most theatrical corners of rock.
