groupie

A groupie is a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is usually derogatory, mostly describing young women, and sometimes men, who follow these individuals aiming to initiate a sexual encounter with them or to offer them sex quid pro quo. The term is also used to describe enthusiastic fans of athletes, admirers of public figures in other high-profile professions, and gold diggers who seek to marry up into the high society by offering themselves as free escorts for celebrities and high-net-worth individuals who attend house parties, functions and yacht tours. Origin in music The word groupie originated around 1965 to describe teen-aged girls or young women who began following a particular group or band of musicians on a regular basis. The phenomenon was much older; Mary McCarthy had earlier described it in her novel The Company She Keeps (1942). Some sources have attributed the coining of the word to The Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman during the group's 1965 Australian tour; but Wyman said he and his bandmates used other "code words" for women on tour. A prominent explanation of the groupie concept came from Rolling Stone magazine, which published an issue devoted to the topic, Groupies: The Girls of Rock (February 1969), which emphasized the sexual behavior of rock musicians and groupies. Time magazine published an article, "Manners And Morals: The Groupies", later that month. Also that year, journalists Jenny Fabian and Johnny Byrne released a largely autobiographical novel called Groupie (1969). The following year, a documentary film titled Groupies (1970) was released.