Tame Impala mainman Kevin Parker has announced that he’s had it with signing autographs. In fact, he’s not going to do it any more.
The Aussie musician has explained in an Instagram Stories post why he’s made the decision. “Hey guys quick PSA to say due to the rise of aggressive autograph hounds I won’t be signing anything or doing photos out the front of hotels or at airports at all anymore, so if you happen to catch me please don’t be offended if I say no,” he wrote.
“I wasn’t that passionate about it before but they’ve started using kids which I think is all kinds of wrong. Love you guys.”
In a later post, Parker also added that he wouldn’t be meeting fans in venue car parks before shows either “for the time being” because of the “obvious security risk.”
It seems this is something he has previously been happy to do but “the numbers were getting out of control and we don’t have the security to manage it … so my team has asked me not to. So please have the best time at the shows and get home safe!”
Parker is, of course, not the first musician to have publicly declared he’s sick of signing stuff. The rather more famous Ringo Starr declared in 2008 he wouldn’t be signing any more autographs, partly due to the fact that he invariably saw the same items for sale online.
Likewise, Billie Eilish cut out signing autographs in 2019 for similar reasons. “(I) realised all anyone did was sell everything that I signed, so I stopped doing that”.
Still a teenager at the time, she had already witnessed the dark side of fandom. “They wait outside for you and then immediately they don’t get what they want, and they boo you, and fucking curse at you. I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m 17’.”
Perhaps Parker (and others) might want to adopt the same tactic as Steve Martin. The comedian didn’t like signing autographs either, but when asked he would give out a card to fans that read: “This certifies that you have had a personal encounter with me and you found me warm, polite, intelligent, and funny.”
