15 Musicians' Pre-Show Rituals

What’s your personal ritual?

Maybe you come straight home from work and whack the kettle on so that you may complete the ritual of ‘Tea and Biscuits.’ Or perhaps you have to soak in the shower for half an hour MINIMUM each morning before you’re legally allowed to open your eyes. You might even have something a little risqué going on (lucky pants, anybody?).

[Keep up to date with the latest UK Music Festival news right here]

How about delaying everybody at work unless you get to eat a shepherds pie? Or taking on an alter ego? Covering your naked body in glitter oil?

Sound a little too far? Well these are just some of the rituals, habits and superstitions of pop and rock stars before they go on stage. Check out our list below to find out who does what!

1.The Rolling Stones: We’re just going to say it: you’d think drugs and booze, right? WRONG! (well, maybe right once upon a time, BUT WRONG NOW) Keith Richards pre-show ritual is eating a shepherd’s pie. Not just that: he needs to be the one to break the pie’s crust. One time a venue’s security staff ate some shepherd’s pie before Keith - so he delayed the show until a new one could be made for him. Rock. And. Roll.

2.P!nk: We'll let P!nk herself go ahead and describe her pre-show rituals: “I usually drink a couple of beers and do my make-up… Oh, and I also make my best friend grab my nipples, that gets me good to go.”

3.Coldplay: It completely figures that Coldplay’s ritual is having a ‘quiet and gentle group hug.’ It’s the perfect equivalent to their music: nice, safe, and just a teensy bit boring.

4.One Direction: Louis Tomlinson revealed this very grown up pre-show ritual - doing Haribo sweets like shots. He claims the group even ‘cheers’ the sweets before they go on for good luck. We like to think the type of Haribo makes a difference (fried egg Haribos can only give bad luck to you, it’s a scientific fact).

5. Justin Bieber: At one time Justin said he eats Sour Patch Kids and Gummi Worms before every show. We’re pretty sure those are just code words for something else these days.

6.Lorde: Pop wunderkind Lorde has a very specific three step ritual: napping/hiding under the same blanket in her dressing room (every time, no exceptions), eating berries so they get all over her face, and then feeling really nauseated till she goes on stage. We’re not saying we understand, but as long as it keeps resulting in songs like Royals we’re totally fine with it.

7.Alice Cooper: The vaudevillian shock-rock king enjoys watching ‘mediocre’ kung-fu movies while downing sugary treats before he goes on stage. Historically he loves skittles, but these days prefers red vines (and we know - we feel completely disillusioned by all of this too).

8.Rihanna: Ri-ri showed off her backstage ritual in her 777 tour documentary. She and her dancers huddle together like footballers before a match, put their hands together and then throw their arms up in the air while yelling out a rally cry. Then they pray. Somehow, this made her 70 minutes late to a show once.

9.Red Hot Chili Peppers: For a band renowned for jumping around with nothing but socks on their nether regions the Chili’s pre-show ritual is surprisingly tame: They have a ‘Soul Circle.’ Basically the four of them hold hands in an intimate circle and sing camp fire songs to each other. Personally we think this is a ritual that needs to happen on stage at least once.

10. Madonna: Madonna may be a material girl, but she only needs three things before a show: a facial, a massage, and her free weights. No it’s not that funny or unusual, but these days neither is Madge.

11.Adele: One time when Adele was about to meet Beyonce for the first time she had a mini panic attack. She resolved this by doing what any normal person would do: she invented an alter ego for herself named Sasha Carter who was a combination of Beyonce’s own Sasha Fierce and country singer June Carter. Sasha Carter now puts in an appearance before every show to help Adele fight off stage fright attacks.

12. Ke$ha: It’s Ke$ha we’re talking about here so you KNOW it’s going to involve glitter. Apparently before every show she, her band and her dancers will get naked, slather them selves with oil, and roll around in glitter. She’s always said she expects people to leave her shows with glitter lodged in every orifice, sounds like her band are no exception.

13.Lady Gaga: Lady Gaga also rides the glitter train, saying she routinely dances topless backstage with her dancers while chucking glitter everywhere before a show. She also eats really well and tries to keep her self detoxed with herbal teas, but topless glitter throwing will always be the more interesting ritual.

14.Led Zeppelin: For a band that helped invent almost every rock’n’roll rebel cliche in the book, Led Zeppelin have become very tame. Apparently for their recent reunion show at the O2 Arena the boys all just wanted cups of coffee, and Robert Plant in particular requested some space to iron his shirts.

15. Miley Cyrus: Leave it to Miley to top EVERYONE. Those of a sensitive disposition prepare to have your outrage meter go into the red. Miley recently announced that a new pre-show ritual is having her little sister Noah check her vagina isn’t showing before she heads on stage. Her sister is 14-years-old. Miley has nick named her the ‘Pu**y Police.’ That’s all we have to say about anything ever again, there’s nowhere to go from here.