Hidden Track Interview: Alycen Rowse, a Groupie Confessional

“I have no regrets,” she proclaims. “The thing about the night with John and the morning after, mind you, which is when the shit hit the fan so-to-speak, is if it was anybody else they probably would have stolen stuff out of that room; gone straight to the press; and made a big debacle about it. I was 17 years into my groupie life at the time, so I was so integrated into the rock n’ roll family. I don’t want this to sound egotistical, but he couldn’t have gone with a better woman, because I know how to keep the privacy. I didn’t even think about touching anything in the room, except for the body and doing mouth-to-mouth. I don’t regret one second of it.”

It’s long been a source of gossip amidst rock n’ roll circles and in the “back lounges,” but according to Alycen, who plans to release a full book detailing her complete groupie story, that evening didn’t unfold with debauchery, but she did sense something wasn’t quite right.

“You know that gut instinct that sometimes eats away at you, but you don’t know what it is? That was eating away at me all night. Even when John and I were just kind of lying in bed, I was on top of the covers, thinking, ‘I just want to go home to my own bed,’ but John was like, ‘Come on darlin’, stay the night.’ Well, something inside me, which I couldn’t pinpoint at the time was just eating away at me.”

The Hierarchy of Groupies

In an effort to drum up interest for her forthcoming book, Alycen keeps a blog called We’ve Got Tonight, which serves as an outlet for selected anecdotes as well as a sort of battle ground between Alycen’s fans and haters. In the more snarky content, she often speaks of the “hierarchy of groupies.”

“I’m not one of the Backlounge Bettys,” she defends. “The back lounge more comes into play when you’re hanging out after a show or or driving down a 15-hour tour bus trip to Fargo or whatever. I don’t see back lounges that often. I see the hotel rooms.”

[Rowse and Friend w/ Jake E. Lee]

In talking about the different eras of groupies, she adamantly believes the ’80s groupies were the real deal. The Band Aids and Almost Famous movie gave the ’70s girls the limelight, but she thinks of the ’70s girls as more just a foundation for what came next. And the current era, amateurs.

“The girls in the ’70s, I mean they had fun with it, but we took it to the edge. We lived it with the boys, and we put our foot down with the boys,” she pronounces, getting progressively more animated. “Those girls following Pamela Des Barres and Almost Famous, they are living a lie. Be out there; be in the now; and be yourself, because that’s the beauty of it all, music changes and attitudes change. In the ’70s, it was the Sunset Strip with groupies all over the place and it was considered women’s lib. In the ’80s, we were fighting the stigma that we were dragging women down, but we weren’t doing anything different.”

Nowadays, it’s a whole different ballgame. The girls tend to be more territorial and catty with attitudes. She still hangs with bands and will never give up the rock life, but as she points out, laughing “There’s more star fuckers and Backlounge Bettys than ever. We didn’t turn our nose down at anybody.”

The Unwritten Rules

You better believe there are rules to being a groupie, or at least a “real groupie.” What’s interesting about Alycen is you can easily tell she cares for the people in this life of hers, understands her role and takes it seriously. To an outsider, the whole idea of the groupie may seem morally questionable, but through her descriptions and anecdotes, it easy to see that she’s an easy-going person, simply living for the excitement of being around music and she treats these rules as scripture.

“You don’t mess with your friends’ guys, especially when they are involved. Because, whether anyone likes to admit it or not, there are emotions,” she rattles off rule one.

Rule two, “You never leave your man. Always leave the party with who you came with. There’s manners; there’s etiquette. If you’re being the road wife, it’s your job to take his drunk ass out of the gutter. You have a certain role to play, it’s not just about the sex.”

Then there’s the issue of the married men, also a no-no. “The wives and kids come on tour, but not very often. The groupies are usually out on the road more. I was never really one to get involved with a married guy, but it does happen from time to time. It just causes too many problems. If they show up unannounced, you’re sitting there like, “Oh, hi.”

And finally, when it comes to drugs and alcohol, “You don‘t want to be the sloppy drunk groupie. Who wants her?” she jokes. “I don’t have an addictive personality and none of the guys I was with really went on the big downward spiral, not even James Hetfield.”

The Don’t Forget List

So who’s on the list besides Entwistle and Hetfield? Alycen reserves that certain things need to be saved in her back pocket for the book, but she’s not terribly shy about it, “I have the full list written down. I call it the ‘do not forget list,’ because sometimes you do forget. There’s around 75, which in 25 years of hanging around backstage is really not that bad. Some were long relationships, a couple I’ve lived with, and a few I had long-term road relationships, one for eight years, one for five, one for twenty. “I guess when you look at the list, it does seem like I am kind of slutty,” she laughs.

Still, as long as there is rock n’ roll, there will be groupies. Let’s face it, music fans are a lot of things, but boring is not of them. Groupies are as much as a part of music culture as obsessive fans, crazy fashion, and touring itself. “That’s the great thing about rock n’ roll, it’s accepting of whomever and however.”

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31 Responses

  1. She stayed with me on my final stop of my band’s 1991 “Please Pleather, Don’t Hurt ‘Em” Tour across central Pennsylvania. So….now you know.

    she’s “Almost FAmous.”

  2. Anyone who has ever wondered about life behind the scenes of groupies and musicians is going to want to read her book. The eighties and it’s trends have made a huge comeback, so I think she has a wide market for her stories.

  3. Wow. I’m glad these chicks are pretty much going the way of the Dodo. All washed up @ age 40 somethin’ and needs to write a book about it. Sad. Sry, in the age of AIDS just can’t get behind this, she screws married/involved guys(pigs). Doesn’t make it, or her, Metal. Just another ho.

  4. Nice-easy going person ? Big Lie !
    I’ve known her for years as an AGGRESSIVE-NEVER MARRIED PRIZE BITCH on metalsludge.tv !
    She badly needs to make free publicity for herself on wwww.whosdatedwho.com as ‘that guurl’ : ‘add the BEAUTIFUL A. Rowse !’
    That Hooker-stripper was so jealous of my chic background that she told everybody she was happy my real parents had abandoned me !
    Big SLUT sucked everybody who ever showed up in Salt lake city; even roadies !

  5. Frenchie…you DO NOT KNOW ALYCEN except the fact you stalk her on every gossip board and have been banned for it!!! You have never seen her or met her in person nor would she give you the time of day if she walked by you on the street. Fact is everything she says is the truth. Again you slander her as she was NEVER a hooker and you know this. Just give up stalking her before you land in jail for you illegal actions and threats…cause you will.
    And as for being ashed up…she hardly is and was just seen hanging out with Megadeth and others just a month ago.

  6. Haven’t you offed yourself yet Frenchie? You only can claim to know Alycen because you’ve been cyber stalking her for at least the past three years. I’ve been backstage with Alycen, most recently with Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax so I can say with certainty that what she says is true. I enjoy this article because it’s a good representation of what Alycen is really like and the person you, Frenchie, are so desperately jealous of.

  7. She posts a response in her blog which contains this nugget; “what aggrivated ticket buying vermon doesn’t understand is that when a rocker is a young nad standing in fron of a mirror visualising his future as a rock star, he is not thinking of the crowd!” Not sure which aging gross 80’s rocker you’ve “inspired” lately, but I’m sure they’d be a little dismayed to hear the fan base referred to as such. BTW I’ve never been Roadmeat or whatever, just a well adjusted self respecting person who is also a musician that loves live music! I saw The Arcade Fire and I’d love to have met them, but I’d rather stick needles in my eyeballs rather than blow anybody backstage or in a tourbus. Have fun with your gross expired souless life.

  8. Hmm, inRi, for someone who is so disgusted with what Ms. Rowse does, you sure do keep up with her blog. You’re a musician? Let me guess;, you and your fat, over-the-hill friends, get together after work and play in front of five drunks, in a shitty dive bar? Don’t hate what you can’t have, or can’t do! How does being a groupie mean one doesn’t have a soul, or is expired? Who are you to pass such judgement on people? If you would be so kind as to remove the giant stick that’s been lodged up your up your ass, it would greatly be appreciated.

  9. Yeah I read your blog “your Mom”/alycen, I wanted to find out a little bit more about the monster behind the whole Entwhistle tragedy, car crash effect I guess. Don’t worry, won’t take another gander..ever. You are so fucking nasty and tawdry, more so than any club I’ve ever played. I’d call over the hill a 40 year old hooker. At least I exemplify the merits and glory of those whom I admire, striving to attain something other than second fiddle blowjob memoirs. What do you think his family thinks of you? How do they feel? Good luck with everything.

  10. I don’t really understand where your coming from inRI. I believe that you haven’t taken much from this article or her blog. You assume the lowest because of your biased opinion on what you think groupies are or do. I distinctly get the impression that Ms. Rowse is not the kind of woman who throws herself haplessly at men. Do you think so little of women that you believe all are the types that toss themselves at a famous person? And as a musician you should understand the dream of wanting that fame, adoring groupies, playing music, and the reality of dealing with annoyingly aggressive fans. From your sinister comments I take it that you don’t want to let go of your preconceived notions. What you should do is read what’s written with an open mind and realize that this is a new story to be told. Not the groupies we’re used to.

  11. I am coming to respond to certain recent posts left by people whohave never met me or been any part of my life in any way.

    To begin with, I have never been, am currently not and have no plans on being a hooker, prostitue or anything of the kind. Any one directly saying or indirectly insinuating that I am or have been is slanderous at best and trying to purposely and maliciously trying to defame me. I am asking that the posts containg these false accusations be removed.

    Secondly, I am not the person posting under Your Mom. Another false conclusion inRI has come to.

    While I do have more to say about this I choose to address it on my blog. If you want to know the rest, inRI, then read it.

    To the others that have enjoyed the article and my blog, thank you. The support is greatly appreciated! I am looking forward to being able to tell my story and hopefully leave those that read it with a little giggle!

    All the Best,
    Alycen Rowse

  12. I totally agree with Inri : she is a squalid OLD woman who tries at last to become famous !
    And MEAN too : I’ve know her for years on all the groupies forums where she is trying to push her stories !

    She is so desperate for fame that she talks about herself under aliases on’Whosdatedwho.com’, always saying : ‘add the beautiful Alycen Rowse’!!
    At last, she gives the impressions that all rockstars are horny morons !.

  13. Frenchie…back like clockwork and at it with your usual lies. If you hate her so much why do you put so much energy over the years to stalk her? I think you secretly wish you were her!

  14. So we are supposed to care about the memoirs of a skank whore who is so far gone and obtuse that she doesn’t even realize she’s a skank whore?

  15. I thoroughly enjoyed this strand of posts! Very entertaining. I found it while searching for a photo of Alycen, because I am reading her book on my Kindle and the pix did not show. I had to see what this girl looked like at the time when every major rock star picked her from the crowd. I guess pictures don’t do her justice? I, too, was a pretty, young rocker then, and I didn’t like my photos either. But “beautiful” does seem to be a stretch for her.

    I found her book interesting because her thinking is so completely opposite of mine. I find it fascinating to learn how something that I would find degrading and gross, could be so magical and personally empowering to another. I don’t hate her for having a different perspective, though. (As long as no wives are hurt!)

    I found her description of the groupie lifestyle interesting, too. If I were to judge anyone, it would be the stars of the 70’s, who, when free to do as they pleased, leaned toward pedophilia.

  16. Killed John Entwistle whilst he was married with an adoring son. That’s something to brag about? Don’t EVEN try to defend it to me!!

    1. She didn’t kill John. She didn’t force cocaine up his nose and didn’t bring it that night. Another fact you guys missed is that John was divorced from second wife Maxine since 91 and had not remarried since. Maxine knowingly was sleeping with him while married to first wife Alison Wise. So who is the real skank? John did have gf when he passed who also died of cocaine use almost three years after and she was known to have an issue with it so dont blame a girl because she was a stripper and you think they are all drugged up cunts. Sheesh. The only shame here is you and your cruelty.

  17. John Entwistle was divorced since the late 80’s when he passed and NOT married you dumbasses. So before you go criticizing anyone, do your research. Seems you are all stretching for reasons to slam her and heave your hatred and negativity on someone who has done nothing to you. I read her book at looked at many of the rockers she was with and in the time she was with them, it does seem that almost all of them were not married or even in a relationship. But agree with her lifestyle or not, you can’t judge her from an uneducated ignorant hateful mind. I friended her on fb and have had conversations with her and she seems quite kind and funny and she never judges anyone despite how strangers belittle her. Not to mention, any pics on Google don’t do her justice…she is very pretty. And there are plenty of rockers from the book who still post on her fb and seem to still be in touch so she must have some decent qualities and real friendships the’s musicians are still atraced to….even with people known to be John’s friends. And after talking to her and reading some posts the rock guys put on her page, this book seems to be only a small part of what really happened. I thought negatively about her and groupies in general before reading her book but am always curious about the life and girls who go there and I must say I find Alycen rereading and ballsy for doing what she wanted and gracefully dealing with hatred and slander from ignorant, rude people conDeming her from an uneducate standpoint.

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  19. Let me tell the arseholes on here a thing or two. When you’re in a band it isn’t all ice cream and cake. Soem of us are 1000s of miles away from family, friends, our routine comfort. Some handle better than others. I do ok, but have had my moments. Of course some rockers just want to party, others are out to kill themselves slowly. It’s a mixed bag. But I will say, you can go to any venue or locale and have some tits (or dick if that’s what you’re into) throw themselves at you, but who the fark do we know who they are? STDs, warrants, ready to empty our wallets at any point, it’s a dark world out there folks especially when you’re alone or with your band (and believe me, sometimes your band mates aren’t your friends. Mostly yes, but it has its moments. Other times a band mate can be your worst enemy!) So, the gist of this post, to roll into a town and have a need for companionship or intimacy, Ally has ALWAYS been one of the cooler peeps to hang out with. She got a funny sense of humor, would do anything to help out a musician or friend with whatever problem of the moment, or just be real and lets party! Believe me folks, it’s not just getting laid and bjs. And to boot, Ally is one hot chick. I personally haven’t seen her in years, but i have no doubt, the exquisite lady I remember has to still look great. If you can’t process all this, then you have no business in the RocknRoll world. Ally, love and peace honey.

  20. Alycen,
    I just finished your book. Wow, what a life! I’m disturbed by all the horrible things people have written here. I was sheltered in my teens and didn’t go to my first concert until I was 17. My boyfriend and I saw Bread! I wish I had the nerve to get out and live life. The double standard here is just absurd. Guys are praised, encouraged to fun around and do every woman they can. If a girl wants to take charge and make her own destiny and have many lovers she is a slut. Alycen, I’d love to have you as a friend. I admire your kick ass personality. You went out and took charge! I can see why women are jealous of you. They are weak, and have to cut you down because they are unhappy with their own sad and boring life. Keep on rockin! Loved reading about your interesting life.

  21. This gal tries a little too hard, looks and behaves like a low-budget Travelodge version of Bebe Buell and the like.

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