Over the weekend, you probably witnessed scenes of girls fainting, crying, wailing and generally going mental for the Bieber. But the teen’s fans are not even on the same playing field as some of these mentallers…
5. The Beatles
Or where it all began really! The Beatles eventually stopped touring because they could barely get outside their own hotels due to the madness. Over the years, the foursome had to deal with obsessed fans who would turn up to their gigs, scream, faint and promptly have to be carried out of the venue. Apparently, you could barely hear them play through the wails and screams of young girls. Some reported seeing fans eating the grass one of the band members walked over, others that Ringo received offers for his tonsils when they were removed. Unfortunately, events took a devastating turn in 1980 when John Lennon was shot by an obsessed fan.
4. Britney Spears
Being in the spotlight since such a young age, Britney was bound to accumulate some crazies along the way. The star has gone through “dedicated” fans jumping on stage, her songs being sung to her by demented worshippers on X-Factor and once, a lovely gentleman who managed to bite her on the leg. Nothing tops the video that went viral on YouTube however. Oh you know this one… “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE.”
3. Lady Gaga
Well, there is a certain amount of nurturing here alright. Lady Gaga is famous for her treatment of her fans, dedicating her career to them and keeping them constantly updated through social media, particularly Facebook. However, the superstar has increased her security recently due to hate mail on the web and several incidents of fans trying to get close to her. Apparently, the star sleeps with a security guard in her room. Perhaps Little Monsters is quite an apt name for her followers.
2. One Direction
The boyband, arguably the greatest success story of X-Factor, are often said to create a Beatles-like hysteria in their fanbase. When in Dublin a couple of years ago at the start of their career, certain employees had to be given an escort into work when over 20,000 fans descended on a local radio station. Fans have tweeted comments that are sometimes bordering criminally insane “1D tickets sold out is making me feel a little stabby” and this particular gem tweeted to a band member:
Yeah, we probably wouldn’t leave buildings without security guards if we were you either…
1. Twilight Stars
Even though all of the above have followers that could probably be committed pretty much straight away, no other fans reach the insanity levels of the Twilight nerds. Considering their high profile, both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have done amazingly well to keep so much of their private lives out of the papers. On the other hand, Pattinson is constantly assaulted, fans have camped out days before premiers and others have got tattoos of their favourite Twilight characters. Perhaps the worst rumour, that Anti-Twilighters have been assaulted for not being fans of the series with one particular student reporting that a Twilight fan tried to slit her throat. Step over Beliebers, there’s a worse kind of crazy in town…
