Throughout his career, Frank Sinatra required that his dressing rooms always be stocked with 22 rolls of Cherry Lifesavers. For a concert in San Diego, Whitney Houston requested 24 hardboiled eggs along with a half dozen cinnamon buns. And Van Halen would demand crystal bowls filled with M&M’s (the brown ones removed), or else the band wouldn’t perform.

Catering to some of the biggest names in the music industry means answering to the whims of stars with watermelon-sized egos while staying attuned to faddish diets and trendy cuisine. From excessive to moderate, the catering lists established between local concert promoters and production managers offer telling clues as to what sits in the stomachs of popular singers once they pierce the floodlights.

John D. Crisafulli of Behind the Scenes Catering knows them well. For nearly two decades, his Sorrento Mesa company has scrambled to accommodate the food and beverage requirements of such luminaries as Janet Jackson, David Bowie, Cher and Aerosmith.

In his book, Backstage Pass (Cumberland House Publishing), he describes in detail the post-show meals (with recipes) that his company has supplied to myriad performers touring through San Diego. Perhaps more titillating are the lists of noshes, beverages and booze these stars have commanded to their dressing rooms in the hours leading up to their concerts.

For obvious reasons, honey and assorted teas are the oft-repeated necessities singers request before commissioning their vocal chords. Melissa Etheridge, for instance, prefers Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger while Michael Bolton requires one of those cute bear-shaped squeeze bottles of honey with his herbal brews.

Yet it’s the highly specific and odd quantities of goods Crisafulli and his staff have stocked in dressing rooms that pique the imagination: a bottle of apple cider vinegar for Elton John, 24 quarts of Green Gatorade for the Moody Blues, and 15 pounds of organic carrots for Aerosmith. From a dizzying grocery list submitted by Metallica, fans have to wonder what the band did with six boxes of assorted cereals and three raw eggs.

For Janet Jackson’s dressing room when she performed in San Diego, the orders included a bowl of raisins, three bottles of Clearly Canadian Loganberry, and six bottles of NAYA water with a footnote emphasizing “no exceptions.”

“Fulfilling the lists usually means shopping at multiple stores or even over the Internet,” says Crisafulli, citing that the 12 black Solo Cups Cher requested in her dressing room was a “difficult color to find.”

“It’s ego-based. The more popular the performer, the more specific they get and the larger quantities they’ll request in their dressing rooms,” he says. “Other times it’s a matter of assuring that local promoters read all the terms of a contract correctly.” And as for Sinatra’s weird Lifesaver obsession, “it probably came down to some type of good-luck superstition.”

But few caterers can explain the excesses of rockers like Ozzie Osbourne, who reportedly once racked up $10,000 in food, alcohol and other creature comforts per dressing room. Conversely, singers such as Jimmy Buffet or David Bowie seem to keep their celebrity statuses in check. Buffett’s dressing room typically costs as little as $10 to stock – one case of Coronita beer and two liters of Evian complete the list. As for Bowie, “He was surprisingly simple. He wanted the air conditioning turned off to preserve his voice, and asked only for herbal tea and fresh fruit. Like many older rock stars, he’s lived through the excesses and doesn’t require a lot anymore.”

Crisafulli points out that “organic foods, wheat-grass shakes and fine wines” have somewhat replaced the drugs and hard liquor that once dominated the backstage scene. Elton John’s catering list, for example, reeks of modern-day sobriety, which in addition to vinegar, includes diet sodas, a quart of whole milk and a fruit basket.

“Booze is still around, but not as much as it was 15 years ago, when there was enough for entire crews to drink all day long through set-up and sound checks. Now it’s a lot of detox items such as fruit juices, smoothies and energy supplements.”

As for the scads of leftovers bands leave in their wake – cheese plates, yogurts, potato chips, tuna salads and the chicken wings seen on Tina Turner’s list, “Some of it gets raided. Some of it gets thrown away. Or if it’s unused, a lot of bands ask that we donate it to local charities.”