There are always rumors about the crazy and unusual requests that singers add to their tour riders: from oxygen tanks to contact lense solution, these 5 celebrities all have some strange, random and a few normal backstage demands. Some keep it simple and just request their favourite foods and drinks to be available for them, while others have long riders filled up with specific instructions on what they need, how things should appear and even how food should be served (reports say 50 Cent won’t eat his food unless it’s on fine China plates!). Thankfully those in attendance just have to worry about having their concert tickets when they arrive for a show, while those who work backstage probably work up a sweat making sure they’ve got every single last item that these celebrities demand.
Lady Gaga
An insider commented to HollywoodLife that Gaga requires certain foods including honey, and an oxygen tank to keep her happy during her tours: “The top two essential things to keep Gaga a happy monster are Manuka honey and an oxygen tank. She also requires a well-stocked supply of organic ginger and lemongrass tea, in addition to two bottles of white wine, preferably from Kendall Jackson or Robert Mondavi, and if her dinner of rotating international cuisine isn’t ready by 5pm, the venue in question can be in breach of contract.”
Justin Bieber
According to reports, Justin loves a mixture of snacks including four loaves of bread, 12 bottles of Vitamin Water, three fresh food platters, potato chips and mixed nuts. He only recently decided to cut back to stop waste: “Recently, there were so many things in my rider that went to waste, so I took a lot of things off my rider. Every day we were buying all this stuff and it was just sitting there. I got rid of it, I didn’t want to waste all the food.”
Katy Perry
A leaked copy of Katy’s rider revealed that she had banned carnations backstage and forbid chauffeurs from looking at her, but she says she has changed it now to be less silly: “The whole driver thing, I have no idea where that came from. My response was, ‘Just change it. Make it not so silly!’ My sister handles flowers and Vip stuff. Maybe she has a beef with carnations, but I don’t think so. Anyone who knows me knows I’m easygoing. I’m just an entertainer. I’m not asking for the sun to shine at night.”
Nicki Minaj
Nicki’s mixed rider has everything from three buckets of spicy fried chicken to contact lense solution. She also demands that various foods be available to her during the day including scrambled egg whites, turkey bacon, toast, Belgian waffles, strawberries, assorted juices and a large fruit platter for breakfast and a deli tray with turkey breast meat, grilled chicken breast, whole Wheat bread or rolls, yellow mustard and other condiments and a large fruit platter with side of mango and one large cheese platter for after the concert.
Selena Gomez
According to HuffingtonPost, Selena likes to keep things simple when she’s on tour, asking for incense and some noodles which are her favourite: “Incense, pickles always, I don’t know. I actually have a boring rider. I’ll be honest…ramen. That’s what I have.”
