The 12 ridiculous requests on Frank Sinatra’s rider
It’s probably no surprise that New Jersey swing icon and Rat Pack leader Frank Sinatra was a choosy diva when it came to his backstage demands.
Few came bigger. A 20th-century American titan, ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ stood as a pop cultural skyscraper in the country’s musical landscape, reaching a peak of deified fascination only challenged by Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. Harnessing the soul of New York while embodying the hedonistic abandon of Las Vegas, Sinatra stood as a totem of old Hollywood and the music industry before the counterculture, still eking out immortal standards like ‘My Way’ and ‘Somethin’ Stupid’ while pop’s lysergic explosions were scoring the underground.
Yet, whether you’re bellowing big band numbers or classic rock stadium strut, the all-important rider can be faced with bizarre requests no matter what genre or time period. For those who don’t know, a rider is the person responsible for sorting all kinds of details from crew equipment to stage dimensions for an act before the show starts, as well as delivering a list of dressing room demands while the talent is waiting for the onstage kick-off.
A box of beers, some wraps, perhaps even a meat platter? Fair enough. But sometimes, a rider can find themselves frantically searching for titanium straws and hand-carved ice balls as was allegedly requested by Beyoncé, or a physician on hand to stick Prince with a vitamin B12 shot should it be necessary. Van Halen’s bowl of M&M’s is a classic, merely a means to ensure that venues were paying attention to safety measures and meticulous technical specifications.
Well, Sinatra can join the ranks of Billy Idol’s strictly Chips Ahoy! branded cookies and the bag of gummy bears reserved for Styx. In fact, the ‘Chairman of the Board’ might well beat them. Unearthed by Picture Perfect Stock founder and Florida concert promoter Tom Brady, an attempted show in Ohio’s Toledo in 1991 resulted in a 20-page document to be rigorously read before any potential show. On page three was the rider.
Listing 37 items under the “Frank Sinatra Dressing Room Contents” header, among such standard deals like a bottle of red wine and a selection of ham and cheese sandwiches, are some stress-inducing requests. “Private telephone with dedicated line” seems pretty extra, but perhaps was more common back in the early 1990s. An upright piano is a big ask, and not the kind of treat easily acquired, and it’s hard to see the real difference between the six lots of towels, bath towels, and napkins each in his lengthy rider.
Turns out, Sinatra was a big Lifesavers fruit candy fan, making clear 12 rolls each of cherry and assorted flavours await him in the dressing room. Six boxes of Kleenex make one wonder what he had planned backstage, while the carton of Camel non-filter cigarettes is the kind of package one has to buy off-duty. To round off his list, the strict orders of all sodas to be 75% looks like just the instruction missed, and only noticed the moment one’s hoofing several stressful bags of shopping to the venue, full-fat everything.
Are they truly ridiculous? There are worse horror stories when it comes to rider requests, and hopefully, a feature of the music world where such excesses stay in the past.
