Beyoncé is back at London’s 02 Arena, and, according to reports, the star of the “Mrs. Carter Show” world tour has some fairly extraordinary dressing room and rider demands.
The 31-year-old is already on the third night of her six-night 02 residency and has reportedly played to a packed house on each. While massive stars are often known for their outlandish demands, they are catered to by promoters because of their ability to bring in the receipts.
According to The Daily Star , Beyoncé allegedly demands around $935 worth of drinking straws plus hand-carved ice balls on her rider along with an odd decree that her tour personnel wear 100 percent pure cotton due to an allergy to presumably man-made fibers.
The tabloid claims the mother-of-one asked for her dressing room to be freshly painted in white and her restroom fitted with a brand new toilet seat. Sounds normal right? That is, until the paper mentioned that the “Crazy in Love” singer insists on red toilet paper only.
The paper also says Beyoncé’s quarters are a strictly zero-tolerance junk food zone. Snacks are limited to almonds and oatcakes, and salads must adhere to a green-only color code.
Other alleged demands include special alkaline water that apparently must be kept at exactly 21 degrees.
“She’s extremely regimented and is taking everything extremely seriously, so she expects her list of demands to be adhered to,” said a nervous sounding and possibly entirely invented source .
“Working so hard and with the toll the travel takes on her body in addition to the intense shows, she feels that her requests aren’t too much to ask for as she wants to ensure everything goes to plan,” added the mouthpiece.
Beyoncé also reportedly passed on the new dressing rooms she was offered and instead opted for the larger rooms normally allocated to sports teams.
“The new dressing rooms are superb – it’s like you’ve stepped into a luxury apartment. But she surprised everyone by turning them down, going for the larger ones that are used by sports teams when they play at the O2,” a source told the Evening Standard .
The source explained: “They are much bigger though, and she was given free rein to refurbish them to her own taste. They’re also in a quieter part of the backstage area, which gives her a better atmosphere to get focused for her shows.”
Whether the claims are true or not — and lets face it, it is quite possible that a superstar who banned professional photographers from her shows could have a thing about cotton, drinking straws — and be partial to red toilet paper.
But, perhaps the thing to remember is that it is Beyoncé’s — mon dieu — “Mrs. Carter’s Show.”
Check out a clip from the singer’s April 30 concert at the O2 below and banish all thoughts of “A diva is a version of a female hustler” right out of your head.