1. Sabel Hay Shields, better known as Sable Starr, was an American groupie, often described as the "queen of the groupie scene" in Los Angeles during the early 1970s.
19 Facts About Sable Starr
1. 2.
Sable Starr stated during an interview published in the June 1973 edition of Star magazine that she had met Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Marc Bolan.
3.
Sable Starr claimed to have lost her virginity when she was 12 to Spirit guitarist Randy California after a gig at Topanga, California.
4.
Sable Starr claimed to have had relationships with David Bowie, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and Johnny Thunders.
5.
Sable Starr got started after a friend invited her to the Whisky a Go Go at the age of 14.
6.
Sable Starr had considered herself unattractive, so she had a nose job when she was 15.
7.
In 1973, Sable Starr gave a candid interview for the short-lived Los Angeles-based Star magazine, and boasted to the journalist that she considered herself to be "the best" of all the local groupies.
8.
Sable Starr claimed that she was closely acquainted with some of rock music's leading musicians, such as David Bowie, Rod Stewart, and Alice Cooper.
9.
Sable Starr was often photographed alongside well-known rock musicians; these photos appeared in American rock magazines such as Creem and Rock Scene.
10.
Sable Starr admitted to having gotten into fights with rival groupies.
11.
Model Bebe Buell described Sable Starr as having been one of the two top Los Angeles groupies of the era, adding that "every rock star who came to Los Angeles wanted to meet her".
12.
Sable Starr ran away from home when she was 16 after meeting Johnny Thunders, guitarist in the glam rock band the New York Dolls.
13.
Sable Starr went to live with him in New York City.
14.
Sable Starr had wanted to marry her after she became pregnant with their child, but she refused and instead had an abortion.
15.
Tired of the physical abuse Thunders often inflicted upon her, and unable to adjust to life in New York, Sable Starr moved back to Los Angeles.
16.
Sable Starr made frequent visits to New York, where she had an affair with Richard Hell, befriended Nancy Spungen, and participated in the local burgeoning punk rock scene.
17.
Sable Starr became a table game dealer at Carson Valley Inn in Minden until shortly before her death.
18.
Sable Starr died at her home in Nevada on April 18,2009, of brain cancer at the age of 51.
19.
Sable Starr was surrounded by her partner, her daughter, and her son.