“My hat flies first class!” … At least it does if you’re the lead singer of U2. But bono’s splurging is just the tip of the rock-spending iceberg. In fact, an iceberg is about the only stupid thing never bought by a profligate star, as Blender’s list of the 50 dumbest rock-star purchases definitively proves. / By Eric Alt, Clark Collis, Josh Eells, Rupert Howe, Steve Kandell, Ben Mitchell, Peter Rubin, James Slaughter, Gabe Soria, Jonah Weiner and Piper Weiss / Blender, December 2005
“My hat flies first class!” … At least it does if you’re the lead singer of U2. But bono’s splurging is just the tip of the rock-spending iceberg. In fact, a... more
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1
Snack attack
Elvis Presley
Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches
$3,387.28
On the night of Feburary 1, 1976, Elvis Presley pulled off a stunt that combined three of his favorite activities — profligate spending, showing off to cops and eating repellent things. While entertaining two Colorado policemen at Graceland, he mentioned a sandwich that he had once eaten at the Colorado Gold Mine Company restaurant in Denver: a hollowed, buttered loaf, filled with peanut butter, jelly and a pound of fried bacon. The sandwich was meant to feed eight, but Presley had finished one unaided. Remarkably, one of the cops expressed an interest. Even more remarkably, Presley insisted they should head to Denver to try it, a distance of 1,000 miles. His stretch Mercedes took them to the Memphis airport, where his private jet, the Lisa Marie — upholstered in aquamarine plush in further testament to the King’s understated elegance — awaited. Two hours later, they landed in Denver, where 22 of the $49.95 “Fool’s Gold” sandwiches on silver platters, plus a bucket of Perrier water and a case of champagne, were brought to a private hangar at the airport by the restaurateur, his wife and a waiter.
2
An Offer He Couldn’t Refuse
Michael Jackson
Marlon Brando
$1,000,000
A frequent (and conspicuously overage) guest at Neverland, Brando demanded a cool mil for his bizarre appearance at Jackson’s 30th Anniversary show in September 2001. After accurately introducing himself to the Garden crowd as an "old fat fart," the star of Jackson’s "You Rock My World" video ranted about children being hacked to death with machetes … from a leather recliner.
3
Electric Dreams
The Beatles
Apple electronics
$510,000
Part of the Beatles’ infamously extravagant Apple Corps company, which also included Apple Records and a boutique, was this subdivision led by one “Magic” Alex. In his single year of employment, Alex outlined numerous inventions, including electric paint, a flying saucer and a recording studio with a “sonic force field,” not one of which ever worked. He was fired in 1969.
4
Gold Dust Man
Mick Fleetwood
Cocaine
$8,000,000
In 1994, Mick Fleetwood estimated how long a single cocaine rail, composed of everything he’d ever blown, would stretch. He guessed five miles, but given his concurrent admission that he’d spent a lifetime total of $8 million on coke, five miles sounds like an average weekend. Fleetwood later described himself as "cocaine monster, rampaging the countryside out of my mind."
5
Saturday Night’s Alright for … Florists
Elton John
Flowers
$419,000
Although renowned for his lavish spending habits and Rococo taste in interior décor, it still came as a surprise to learn that between 1996 and 1997 Elton John spent almost half a million dollars on flowers alone. Even he’s not sure how he did it. Questioned over his expenditure during a 2000 trial, he replied simply, “I like flowers.”
6
Football Foolishness
Rod Stewart
Personal soccer field
$100,000
There’s being a sports fan, and then there’s building a professional-sized soccer field on the grounds of your Epping, England, mansion, complete with dressing rooms modeled on those of Scottish team Celtic FC, and groundsmen to maintain them. Sadly, in 2004, English zoning officials objected to his plans to install floodlighting.
7
Bar for the Course
Ron Wood
A replica British pub
$66,000
When the Rolling Stones guitarist bought Sandymount, an “18th century gentleman’s residence” in County Kildare, Ireland, he outfitted the garden with a British pub where the Stones could relax during rehearsal sessions. Nowadays, though, it tends to go half-stocked thanks to Wood’s sporadic bouts with sobriety.
8
Great Balls of Fire
The KLF
Torched cash
$1,700,000
Ah, who doesn’t love the smell of flaming cash in the morning? British pop duo KLF clearly do — why else would they have set 20,000 50-pound notes ablaze, then circulated a videotape of the bonfire? Some say the 1994 stunt was inspired materialist satire. Others called it moronic decadence. Starving children worldwide were unavailable for comment.
9
PETA to the Metal
Nelly
Mink-lined Rolls-Royce
$385,000
Despite a trip to the customizer for new rims, Nelly clearly felt his Rolls-Royce Phantom still lacked a certain discreet charm, so he had the interior totally re-worked in mink fur. Just consider the aesthetics: It probably looks as if someone stuck a Wookiee in a microwave.
10
Papal Bull
Kanye West
Michelangelo’s ceiling
$350,000
“I’m the closest that hip-hop is getting to God,” remarked Kanye West recently. “In some situations I’m like a ghetto Pope." Which may explain the decoration he chose for his L.A. dining room last year: a complete recreation of Michelangelo’s frescoes from Rome’s Sistine Chapel ceiling.
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