Pretty much every celebrity likes to live it up, but there are some who liked doing it more than others, maybe a little too much.
Freddie Mercury
It shouldn’t really be a surprise that Freddie Mercury liked to party it up; he was a rockstar, after all. His birthday was usually one of his biggest events. During his 39th in 1985, he took over Henderson’s cabaret club in Munich and told 300 guests to show up in black-and-white drag.
They did. Boy George came, and so did Brian May. Mary Austin, Jim Hutton, and plenty of other famous faces were there, too. They arrived in horse-drawn carriages, because taxis were way too simple for someone like Freddie Mercury.
Elizabeth Taylor
Owning nice jewelry is one thing. Elizabeth Taylor’s love for the sparkly stuff is another. Her collection included the 33.19-carat Krupp Diamond and La Peregrina pearl. She had more shiny objects than most people could fit inside their homes, and she knew the stories behind most of them.
She actually wore them, instead of just locking them away for special occasions. Taylor died in 2011, and afterwards, the auction house Christie’s sold more than 2,000 items from her collection. The auctions took several days, because of course they did.
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, Taylor’s on-and-off husband, was just as lavish. He bought her the La Peregrina pearl in 1969, and then gave her the 69.42-carat Taylor-Burton Diamond later on. Their trips together were just as expensive.Â
Big groups, long lunches, luxury dinners, they did it all. It didn’t matter that Burton was filming in one country because he’d end up entertaining guests in a different country soon after. No, it wasn’t a relaxing schedule, but it sure was entertaining.
Elton John
It was thanks to a 2000 court hearing that people finally got numbers for Elton John’s spending. He’d spent close to £30 million between January 1996 and September 1997, £10 million of which went on property. Another £293,000 went to flowers, yes, just flowers.Â
The press asked him about the bill, and John just said he ‘liked flowers.’ Obviously. He spent around $4 million each month, adjusted for inflation, on clothes, artwork, and practically anything else he liked.
Frank Sinatra
The show might’ve ended. Still, Frank Sinatra behaved like the evening had barely started, especially during the Rat Pack years in Las Vegas. He’d film with his friends, including Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., during the day, and then perform at the Sands at night.
The party continued in the local bars and private rooms afterward. Writer Gay Talese actually found him in a Beverly Hills club in 1965 with bourbon in one hand and a cigarette in the other. That’s so Sinatra.
Keith Richards
Keith Richards was the kind of guy to live the wild life as much as he could. Hotels, rented houses, recording studios, he didn’t care, he’d do it wherever. He allegedly used a lot of substances, both legal and illegal, during the 1970s.
He stopped heroin in 1978 and quit cocaine in 2006. He stopped smoking in 2019. But Richards didn’t give it all up and revealed that he still enjoys a drink now and again. Really, what else could you expect from someone in the Rolling Stones?
Errol Flynn
There’s no need to keep everyone inside a Hollywood house when you own a yacht. At least, that’s what Errol Flynn believed, as he entertained his guests aboard the Zaca while sailing through the Mediterranean. Actors and loved ones joined the fun, so did the occasional royal.
The days would sometimes involve swimming and diving. It was then dinner and drinks on whichever yacht was hosting during the evening. Even while he was back home in California, his home parties attracted major movie stars. The boat still sounds better, though.
Truman Capote
Truman Capote called it a ‘small masked ball.’ It was anything but. Around 540 people showed up, and he spent months putting the 1966 event together at New York’s Plaza Hotel. He planned everything, right down to the black-and-white dress code.Â
The venue was packed with movie stars and writers, along with politicians and old-money families. There were also members of royalty. The bill for the entire event apparently came to $16,000, or around $165,000 in modern money. It was quite a party.
Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger once had a white horse at one of her birthday parties. Somehow, that’s not surprising. It was during her 1977 night at Studio 54, and she climbed on the horse wearing a red Halston dress. A photo of her doing so became famous almost immediately.Â
But despite the rumors, she didn’t ride into the club or travel through Manhattan on horseback. She wasn’t that over-the-top. No, she arrived on foot like everyone else, and then the horse appeared. That’s just how things were at Studio 54.
Andy Warhol
There’s no way that Andy Warhol wasn’t going to make this list. Nightclubs were basically part of his working week by the late 1970s, and Studio 54 was the obvious stop. He also turned up at other venues, though, like Area and the Palladium.
Let’s not forget Paradise Garage and the Mudd Club. Warhol certainly didn’t. He’d move between groups, and then, the next morning, he’d call Pat Hackett to tell her everything that happened. She’d write it down for his diary, including cab fares and odd bits of conversation.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
