VAN HALEN's Legendary M&M's Rider Unveiled

December 11, 2008

The Smoking Gun web site has posted the most famous backstage concert rider of them all, the one in which VAN HALEN famously stipulated that brown M&M's were to be banished from the band's dressing room. The web site has finally obtained the 1982 Van Halen World Tour rider — typewritten and 53 pages long — containing the M&M prohibition (and a few other uniques demands). The document, which has been excerpted at this location, also stipulated that promoters provide the group with "herring in sour cream," four cases of "Schlitz Malt Liquor beer (16 ounce cans)," and a total of eight bottles of wine and liquor.

The VAN HALEN rider was provided to The Smoking Gun by relatives of Jack Belle, a late New York businessman who booked concerts in upstate New York. Belle, who died in 1987 at age 43, promoted shows featuring acts ranging from FOGHAT and GOLDEN EARRING to THE POLICE and THE WHO. The 1982 VAN HALEN rider was included in dozens of show files that Belle maintained, and which his family is now considering selling (the files include riders, signed contracts, catering bills, etc.).

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).