Celebrity Musician Backstage Food Riders Revealed

There's no doubt about it that being an internationally acclaimed rock star who tours the world must be tiring at times. Of course, celebrities gotta eat, and with the physical and mental demands that come with performing to thousands of adoring fans, who can blame them for wanting to unwind with particular food-related requests? Whether it be a favorite drink or a traditional comfort food from home, it's always interesting to sneak a peek at what the rich and famous do when they're offstage. 

Which brings us to backstage riders. As explained by Music Gateway, a rider is a legally binding piece of a contract that maps out exactly what a star requires to play a venue. A rider may be dictated by the venue, budget, and culture of a place, and should ideally have some wiggle room. Backstage riders can be about anything, but they always include food and drinks, ranging from green room goodies to junket junk food to tasty tour treats. While some of the listed items may be reasonable, some of the asks are downright extravagant, simply strange, or both. Suffice to say, celebrity backstage riders offer a fun peek behind the curtain.

The story of Van Halen and the brown M&Ms may sound like an urban legend at this point, but reality is stranger than fiction— especially in the world of backstage celebrity food riders. As recounted by The Smoking Gun, a rider from one of Van Halen's tours included a very specific condition: no brown M&Ms were to be served backstage.

At face value, such a seemingly absurd request may appear to be a sign of spoilt rock-star antics or pandering to diva-like behavior. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, this stipulation was designed to test whether the rider was read properly and an assurance that other important points had been noted, such as health and safety issues. As David Lee Roth wrote in "Crazy from the Heat" (via Spin), "When I would walk backstage, if I saw a brown M&M in that bowl, well, [I'd] line-check the entire production. Guaranteed you're going to arrive at a technical error. They didn't read the contract." It was in fact a shrewd move to make promoters more attentive to the real demands of touring.

The heavy metal legends of Metallica do not mess around with Napster, nor do they mess around when it comes to their backstage food setup. In a 2004 tour rider obtained The Smoking Gun, the band specifically requested that vegetarian options be provided for members of the crew. Of course, that is a perfectly normal and considerate request; there's nothing like finishing a hard day of work only to realize the only vegetarian-friendly dinner options are granola bars and trail mix. But that did not mean the entire menu was vegetarian-friendly: Metallica also wanted bacon at literally every meal — in fact, that phrase "VERY IMPORTANT" was used all three times bacon was brought up. Bacon: it's what's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

While the other specific requests are less notable than the bacon marathon, the band also wanted any brand of bottled water other than Evian, single-serving boxes of Kellogg's brand cereals, PG Tips or Tetley's British Blend tea, and no styrofoam cups.

Evidently, Keith Richards of English rock band The Rolling Stones can only get satisfaction on tour when he's served the British classic that is shepherd's pie. So important has it been to him over the years, it's part of his contract that it's served as a pre-show dish. As Richards wrote in his memoir "Life," "It's now famous, my rule on the road. Nobody touches the shepherd's pie till I've been in there. Don't bust my crust, baby." Alas, during the tour following the release of "Steel Wheels," a show in Toronto was apparently delayed because somebody busted Richards' crust. Much to the apparent consternation of frontman Mick Jagger, the traditional meal was made and the band played on. 

As recently as 2017, Richards has tweeted about his beloved backstage pie, showing a picture of it in his dressing room. And when he hosted BBC's "Lost Weekend," Richards shared that he must have his shepherd's pie with HP Sauce, and also recommended throwing in fresh onions before topping the filling with mashed potato. It seems that while Richards may have played to sell-out arenas across the globe, that when he's on the road, nothing tastes quite as good as home comfort food.

While there are undoubtedly some wild backstage celebrity riders out there, Jack White's team's food demands are not necessarily outrageous, but incredibly specific. When the White Stripes frontman was set to perform at the University of Oklahoma in 2015, the OU Daily kindly shared the rocker's rider. Among the requests? Guacamole — but it couldn't be store-bought guacamole. Instead, it had to be made to a certain recipe (which, of course, was included in the list), as well as being served at a set time too. The rider also took a firm stance one fruit in particular: "We don't want to see bananas anywhere in the building."

After this document made the internet rounds, White's team stated that they were disappointed that the contract was made public and defended the musician. "Contrary to what some believe, Jack doesn't write the rider nor make demands about his favorite snacks that must be in his dressing room," they noted. "We're not even sure he likes guacamole but we do know that the folks who work hard to put on the show do enjoy it." They also recommended giving the recipe a try.