Celebrity riders are a set of requests required by a performer at a venue (in case you didn’t know) and typically cover hospitality and tech specifications. Sounds pretty straight forward, right? Well, if you’re a rock star, things can get pretty outlandish and expensive. From Beyonce’s super expensive straw addiction to Kanye West’s slushie machine, here are celebrity riders that are too ridiculous to be believed.
1. Kanye West
According to Business Insider, some of Kanye West’s demands include a lot of yogurt (specifically a tub of plain yogurt for dipping and four small Yoplait yogurts), Sunkist salted pistachio nuts (no red coloring), hotsauce (Tabasco’s Caribbean variety) and a lot of alcohol. On his Saint Pablo tour, he wanted a slushie machine that mixes Coke and Hennessy and Grey Goose and lemonade.
2. Sir Paul McCartney
When you’re rock royalty, you can pretty much get anything you want and Sir Paul McCartney has some pretty specific demands when he’s touring. A devoted vegetarian, McCartney won’t allow meat, fur or leather in his dressing room. Even fake leather and fur is banned from being in his space. Business Insider reports that he also wants “six full and leafy floor plants, but no trees.” Okay then!
3. Mariah Carey
Mariah’s rider taught us that she’s a Chardonnay kind of woman, and requests that her dressing room have three bottles of it, along with six red wine glasses and six white wine glasses. (We don’t see red wine on the list though — interesting.) She also has to have “warm” fried chicken, four Jo Malone vanilla candles and two vases of white roses.
4. Drake
Complex reports that Drake requires four dozen natural-scented incense sticks, pork-free food, E-Z Wider rolling papers, a pack of Dutch Master President cigars, Pinot Grigio and more booze. He also has to have Nivea Chapstick and Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap, which he told Complex that it “tingles the body and clears the mind.”
5. Beyonce
Queen Bey has some very specific requests for her musician rider. The craziest thing? According to Elle, the singer has to have $900 titanium straws to sip alkaline water through. She also needs to have the toilet seat changed at each venue she performs at and requires that the dressing room be set to exactly 78 degrees. Other than that, she’s super easy to work with.
