At the end of 2001 I was hired as a paid groupie for an ABC live promotional Thanksgiving special on God Himself: Mick Jagger. My dear friend Asheligh Meyer and I were ushered into the El Rey Theatre along with 20 or so other cast groupies. As soon as we walked in we bumped into Meg Ryan. Jack Nicholson was seated behind a velvet rope at a private table. Naomi Campell was next to him. Toni Basil, Mick’s official stylist, was sorting through a wardrobe rack, looking chic and gorgeous in her couture leopard-print hat.

Ashleigh and I sauntered over to the bar. We threw back vodka shots with Mark McGrath, who actually remembered me from his “When It’s Over” video. An assistant director grabbed us by the arm and yelled, “You are supposed to be working, not drinking!” and forced us to go back to the front row of the stage. A clever reporter from the LA Weekly was on the case. She offered to buy us drinks in exchange for information on why we were there. Ashleigh gave her the scoop – along with the proper spelling of her name. I chose to remain anonymous, and the article referred to me as Leather Boy when it was published. (Read it here)

Mick hit the stage at about midnight. He shimmeyed and shook and I screamed as loud as I could. Even though he was old enough to be my great-grandfather, he was inherently sexy. I was fixated with his trademark bulge that was just inches away from my happy face.

At the end of the night all the “groupies” lined up in the alley of the El Rey to collect a crisp $100 bill each from my favorite casting director of all time, Scottie Lazarus. It was the perfect ending to a night in rock ‘n’ roll heaven. (Watch the clip)

– Sham Ibrahim