Groupie Tales - A History

The term Beatlemania, coined during the British (musical) Invasion of 1964 was actually stolen from the much earlier Lisztomania which was coined in the 1800s to describe the hysterical reaction women fans gave to classical composer and pianist Franz Liszt. The groupie phenomena is nothing new.

In Ancient Rome the gladiators, who were essentially slaves who were forced to fight each other to the death for the amusement of Roman citizens, were highly sought after sexual prizes by the wealthy women aristocrats of Rome. The gladiators who were the best (survived) became the Rock Stars of their day. Or more accurately, the Sports Stars of their day.

Beethoven's Immortal Beloved was how he addressed an unsent love letter to a rich woman with whom he was apparently in love. Beethoven mistakenly believed that his sheer talent elevated him beyond his commoner birth to the social level of the aristocracy. The fact that several ladies of high birth liked his music enough to give him freebies lead him on to think he could actually score one of these babes for a wife. Getting a little deaf musician action on the sly is one thing but acknowledging this sort of slumming publicly was not to be done and Ludwig had his little heart broken. 

The sample of Beethoven and his Immortal Beloved is something to which a lot of rock stars can relate. Britain's Princess Margaret had a nasty rumor about her and Mick Jagger back in the day but mostly it's the rock stars who are considered aristocracy  and the groupies aspire to their world.

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