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By the early 1970s, the whole groupie thing was embedded—quite literally—in rock music culture. Playboy model Bebe Buell enjoyed liaisons with several rock musicians during this period and over the following four decades. Her 'credits' include Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Todd Rundgren.
During a brief split from Rundgren, Buell embarked on an affair with Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler. The fling resulted in an unplanned pregnancy. Nine months later, future actress Liv Tyler (pictured) was born.
For the first 11 years of her life, Liv Tyler believed her father was Todd Rundgren. Buell later claimed that Steven Tyler's heavy drug habit was the reason she kept the truth from her daughter.
On October 12, 1978, Nancy Spungen was found dead of a stab wound in New York's Chelsea Hotel. Vicious was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder. Released on bail, he died of a heroine overdose before the case went to trial. The events leading up to and including Spungen's demise have been the subject of conjecture ever since.
Of all the lives profiled on this list, Nancy Spungen's must surely be the most tragic. A central figure in the 1970's punk rock scene, Spungen became involved with Sid Vicious, bassist with the Sex Pistols.
By the early 1970s, she was circulating among the clubs on Sunset Strip, notching up an array of conquests that included Jim Morrison, Gram Parsons, Keith Moon, Mick Jagger, and Jimmy Page. She also dated movie stars, among them Don Johnson.
Notorious for being known as a "baby" groupie during the 1970s, Lori Maddox started hanging out in LA nightclubs on Sunset Strip at the tender age of 13.
Pamela Des Barres fell into the groupie groove in the late 1960s, hanging out with the Bryds, Captain Beefheart, and Frank Zappa.
According to Starr, her bedroom conquests numbered Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, various members of Led Zeppelin, and Iggy Pop, who in 1996 wrote 'Look Away' for her. She's pictured with Debbie Harry of Blondie. The band's 1976 song 'Rip Her to Shreds' includes the telling line, "Oh, you know her, 'Miss Groupie Supreme.'"
Sable Starr was also drawn to an edgier, underground scene. She had a well-publicized relationship with Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls, and she's pictured here with Stiv Bators of Dead Boys. Starr died in 2009.
Also among the most infamous of rock music fans, Sable Starr was often described as the "queen of the groupie scene" in Los Angeles during the 1970s.
Munich-born German fashion model Uschi Obermaier enjoyed huge success in the late 1960s, working with top photographers like Helmut Newton and gracing the covers of numerous fashion and lifestyle magazines.
In 1968, she met Rainer Langhans (pictured). The pair moved to Berlin, where they ensconced themselves in the controversial illegal squat Kommune No. 1. By 1973, Obermaier was circulating in underground Berlin celebrity circles, through which she met Jimi Hendrix and, later, the Rolling Stones.
The German-Italian model, actress, and self-styled "It Girl" became the muse of the Rolling Stones. She began dating Brian Jones in 1965 after meeting the band in Munich, Germany.
Pallenberg later turned her attention to Jones' bandmate Keith Richards. The couple married in 1967 and together had three children. They divorced in 1980. Pallenberg died in 2017.
The term "groupie" had actually been coined in the mid-1960s to describe teen-aged girls or young women who began following a particular group or band of musicians on a regular basis. An early disciple was Anita Pallenberg.
Cynthia Plaster Caster eventually amassed a collection of 50 plaster phalluses, with Jimi Hendrix being the first to summit to the casting couch. Shortly before her death in 2022, she donated a copy of the late guitarist's member to the Icelandic Phallological Museum.
Describing herself at the time as a "recovering groupie," Miss Albritton gained fame in the late 1960s for creating plaster casts of celebrities' erect penises! She later added to her portfolio by casting female artists' breasts.
Cynthia Dorothy Albritton, better known as Cynthia Plaster Caster, earned her stripes not so much for her performance between the sheets but rather for her novel if somewhat bizarre artistic talent.
Actress Tawny Kitaen began her career in television. But it was for her appearances in several heavy metal music videos that she gained wider exposure in the entertainment business.
Kitaen's road was rocky. She'd been involved with Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby at a young age. In 1989, she married Whitesnake front man David Coverdale. They divorced in 1991.
She dated actor and singer Michael Des Barres (pictured) of Power Station (who previously had been married to Pamela Des Barres), and also became involved with Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee. She was married to baseball player Chuck Finley from 1997 to 2002, but shortly afterwards her life spiraled out of control through alcohol and drug abuse. She died in 2021.
Sources: (Thrillist)
See also: Famous figures who died of alcoholism
Jenny Fabian is regarded as England's most famous groupie. She manned the cloakroom of the Middle Earth nightclub in London's Covent Garden during the mid-to-late 1960s.
The club hosted numerous big-name acts, bands that included Pink Floyd, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, and The Byrds.
After Middle Earth's closure, Fabian's largely autobiographical novel 'Groupie' caused a sensation when it was published in 1969. Co-written by Johnny Byrne, the book describes the life and times of the late 1960s London underground rock and roll scene.
A brief fling with Hendrix was followed by Obermaier joining the Rolling Stones for their 1975 Tour of the Americas, during which it's rumored she had affairs with both Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.
Their relationship was frequently fraught and troubled, with both noted for their instability and antisocial behavior.
Favorite venues included the Whisky a Go Go, and Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco. By age 14—and well underage—she was hitting it off with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.
Maddox is also rumored to have had affairs with David Bowie and Mick Jagger.
Des Barres also put pen to paper to describe her errant lifestyle, spilling the beans in a 1987 memoir, 'I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie.' Des Barres, pictured in 1974 embracing Alice Copper, inspired the character Penny Lane in the movie 'Almost Famous' (2000).
Groupies and rock music go hand in hand. Described as hard-core female fans who follow a group or band while they are appearing in concert or on tour, groupies often desire more than just a photograph or an autograph. Indeed, the most ardent disciples are quite likely looking to get their favorite singer or musician between the sheets!
A few of these groupies became notorious for their bed-hopping, sleeping with some of the biggest names of the era. But whose track record deserves the label "groupie supreme"? Click through for a record of music's most notorious fans.
The most notorious groupies in rock music history
Which fan is the "groupie supreme"?
MUSIC Pop culture
Groupies and rock music go hand in hand. Described as hard-core female fans who follow a group or band while they are appearing in concert or on tour, groupies often desire more than just a photograph or an autograph. Indeed, the most ardent disciples are quite likely looking to get their favorite singer or musician between the sheets!
A few of these groupies became notorious for their bed-hopping, sleeping with some of the biggest names of the era. But whose track record deserves the label "groupie supreme"? Click through for a record of music's most notorious fans.