This Legendary Singer Required Tootsie Rolls On Tour
When a music artist makes it big and reaches the level of superstardom, their hospitality rider — a list of requests to have on hand in their dressing room on show days — can include some interesting demands. Some of the requests can seem outrageous, while others are pretty relatable.
Per Business Insider, Taylor Swift likes to have a bag of Twizzlers red licorice, along with pints of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream and Chocolate Brownie Frozen Yogurt. Swift also likes to have a single avocado, a stick of butter, and three boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. On the other hand, Van Halen required M&Ms in their rider, but all of the brown M&Ms must have been completely removed beforehand, says Business Insider in another article. And Kanye West apparently needed a slushie machine in his dressing room — because why not?
These types of seemingly over-the-top demands are not the first of their kind, nor will they be the last, and honestly, it would appear most artists are looking for attention to detail, which says a lot about the people you work with in close quarters. In fact, a member of the famed 1950s Rat Pack was pretty keen on always having Tootsie Rolls in his dressing room before he performed, and it's making us want to "start spreading the news."
Frank Sinatra loved Tootsie Rolls
That's right, even Ol' Blue Eyes himself had a list of demands on show day. Per Forbes, the "New York, New York" crooner was a big fan of mini Tootsie Rolls and liked to eat them for dessert after he feasted upon a spread that included fruit, a tray of brie cheese and crackers, egg salad sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches with no mayo, ham and cheese sandwiches, and chips and pretzels.
It makes sense that Sinatra would want to have food on hand to feed himself and his crew so they could deliver an energetic and high-quality performance for fans every night. Not to mention, who doesn't love Tootsie Rolls? They are all kinds of sugary, chewy, chocolatey goodness, and they're individually wrapped, making it easier to share with a big team.
But how much time does a super mega star actually spend in their dressing room to really enjoy everything they request? Forbes asked this question of Tom Brady, a concert promoter from Clearwater, Florida, and his response was "about 20 minutes or so." That's plenty of time to nosh on Tootsie Rolls at least!