Rita: The Rolling Stones fan who saved the band
The rationale behind The Rolling Stones was simple: “Hey, those Beatles fellas aren’t doing too bad, let’s make a cooler version of them.” John Lennon has previously said that he feels as though The Beatles had to hide their true selves when appealing to the masses, and those bits they were hiding were fully embraced by their Rolling Stones counterparts.
Their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, used The Beatles as a musical blueprint, and then decided The Rolling Stones could thrive as a more rebellious incarnation of the Fab Four. “There was no real future for a British band before The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. That was the turning point, after which there was an avalanche,” said Oldham, “It totally transformed the possibilities, and as usual, The Beatles were the frontrunners. In music, there is The Beatles, and then there is everybody else.”
This simple idea created one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Since their inception, the Rolling Stones have released classic after classic, and continue to find success on tour even over six decades after they first hit the stage. They have also amassed a fanbase unlike any other, with loyal supporters left and right of the band, constantly willing them on and supporting them through thick and thin.
Rita is an example of one of the biggest Rolling Stones fans in the world. She didn’t only follow the band around the world, but she did so as a blind person, hitchhiking on unknown roads and constantly risking her safety in a bid to hear her favourite band perform once again. She gets a special mention in Keith Richards’ memoir Life, where he talks about the devotion of some of his fans.
“She hitchhiked to our shows. The chick was absolutely fearless,” he wrote, “The love and devotion of [fans] like Rita is something that still amazes me.”
Rita wasn’t just a fan of Richards; she was his saviour at one point, as she played a significant part in keeping him out of jail when he faced drug charges in 1978. He had been discovered by Canadian police with an ounce of heroin on his person and was charged with possession with the intent of trafficking. It wasn’t the first time that Richards had found himself on the wrong end of the law, but this charge threatened serious jail time. He was eventually found guilty; however, he was allowed to walk free.
There were a number of reasons as to why Richards wasn’t punished too strictly for his charges. The prosecution was haphazard; there was a lot of pressure on the court from both politicians and the public to let him go free, and Rita helped to sway the decision. She appealed to the judge as a fan and managed to devise an arrangement where, rather than serving jail time, Richards could instead do community service in the form of playing a free gig to raise money for the blind. The gig went ahead in support of Rita, lots of money was raised, and Richards was allowed to walk free.
We often forget the true power that individuals can have on the success of bands, but Rita and how much she helped the Rolling Stones highlight how powerful fans can really be.
