Sex, Drugs & Rock N Roll: 6 Most Infamous Groupies

Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. The equation of life for many a rock star. This, however, can only be made complete with dear old groupies tagging along simply out of pure adoration or wanting to become famous through being around someone famous. Some of the participants in this shag fest have even transcended the stigma of being branded a groupie and become household names. Here we look at some of the most famous.

Pamela Miller Des Barres

Formerly married to rock singer Michael Des Barres and member of performance art group GTO’s (one of Frank Zappa’s side projects), the experience of releasing an album allowed her to ‘meet’ rock idols such as Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Jim Morrison, and Keith Moon among others. Managing to hold on to her virginity for extremely long (she wanted to save it for the one she fell in love with – Nick St. Nicholas of Steppenwolf), she was more ‘hands-on’ and ‘mouthy’ with them. She has released a best-seller book and writes articles for online and print publications. More startling is the fact that she has become an ordained minister and performs weddings.

Patti Boyd

Though not a groupie in a typical sense of the word, Patti surely was many a girl’s envy in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. She was married to both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, inspiring the songs ‘Layla’ and ‘Wonderful Tonight’, amongst others. As if snaring a Beatle wasn’t enough, she was involved with John Lennon and Ron Wood during her marriage to Harrison. She even rejected Mick Jagger. Quite the alpha female. She has recently released a best-seller book and exhibited photographs of her days with Harrison and Clapton.

Bebe Buell

A model who had a six-year relationship with Todd Rundgren in the ‘70s, she had affairs with luminaries of rock like members of The Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Jimmy Page, and Steve Tyler while living with Rundgren. Her tryst with Tyler led to the birth of actress Liv Tyler. Splitting up with Rundgren, she then went on to bed Rod Stewart and Elvis Costello - her bedpost really must have some pretty impressive notches. To top it all off she appeared in Playboy magazine. She sang for bands during the ‘80s and released a 1991 autobiography which has become a best-seller (getting it on with rock stars must really sell). She has just recently finished recording a full-length album.

Cynthia Plaster Caster

Don’t baulk when you read how she got close to rock stars. Her claim to fame was by making plaster casts of rock stars’ genitalia in various states of stimulation. This was her modus operandi in meeting musicians but her ‘unique’ art made it big time when Jimi Hendrix became her first superstar cast in 1968. Her life was a subject of a documentary and she still makes casts of breasts and penises, but chooses her clientele now and no longer works on commission. She is willing to tutor interested parties and is working on her autobiography (if it includes pictures of the ‘cast members’, it’s sure to be a bestseller).

Connie Hamzy

Arguably the most famous and hardest-working groupie of all. She is the “sweet sweet Connie” featured in the Grand Funk Railroad song ‘We’re An American Band’. Throughout the ‘70s and beyond, she has been very willing in her ‘services’ to the biggest names rocking Little Rock, Arkansas. She claims to have bedded then Governor Bill Clinton too in 1984 (she passed a polygraph test, sorry Monica). Her 1995 biography is apparently out of print. She still hangs out backstage at Little Rock concerts and while she has been widely quoted as saying “I might be a slut and a whore. But I am no liar,” she sure has some pretty amusing stories to share.

Nancy Spungen

Sid and Nancy. Known more for her tumultuous relationship with Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, Nancy was originally a groupie as well. Having to leave home at 17, she moved to New York where she followed bands like Aerosmith, The Ramones, and the New York Dolls. Nancy, who had to work as a prostitute to fuel her drug addiction, managed to repulse everyone, even managing offending people from the punk rock scene (these are people who already go out of their way to be offensive). She moved to London in 19 but was rejected by Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten though Sid took to her charms and there onwards started their downward spiral which eventually led to her death – getting stabbed by Sid himself. Truly rock ‘n’ roll.

Know of any other groupies yourself? Let us know their claim to fame!