Barbara Cope ( Sheltman; March 19, 1950 – January 14, 2018) was an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

groupie The term groupie is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is usu ...

, known in the late 1960s and early 1970s as "The Butter Queen".

Early life

Barbara Sheltman was the daughter of Earline Miller and Joe Sheltman. She was born in

Hunt County, Texas Hunt County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 99,956. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is named for Memucan Hunt, Jr., the first Republic of Texas Minister to the United States from 183 ...

, on March 19, 1950 and attended

Bryan Adams High School Bryan Adams High School is a public high school located in the Casa View neighborhood of East Dallas, Texas, United States and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. The school serves the area of Dallas east of White Rock Lake, sout ...

East Dallas East Dallas, also referred to by the East Dallas Chamber of Commerce as the Lake & Garden District, is an expansive area of numerous communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas (United States) that border nearby suburban cities to the east s ...

Groupie life

She said that she became a groupie in 1965 during a concert at the

Dallas Memorial Auditorium The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (KBHCCD) (formerly Dallas Convention Center) is a convention center in the Convention Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas. The "Dallas Memorial Auditorium" was a standalone multipurpose arena, de ...

. She toured with

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

before joining up with

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

in 1970. She is featured in a seven-minute segment of the 1971 Cocker documentary film '' Mad Dogs & Englishmen''. She was known by the nickname "The Butter Queen" (or "The Dallas Butter Queen"), which she allegedly earned from using

Land O'Lakes Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an American member-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills, Minnesota, United States, focusing on the dairy industry. The cooperative has 1,959 direct producer-members, 751 m ...

butter during sexual encounters with rock stars. She is referenced in the song " Rip This Joint" by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

Down to New Orleans with the Dixie Dean
'Cross to Dallas, Texas with the Butter Queen

She is also mentioned in the notes for the DVD release of The Rolling Stones documentary ''

Gimme Shelter "Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released as the opening track from band's 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer ...

'':

“A blonde with straggly hair announced, 'I've got a pound of butter in my purse. Where's
Mick Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a derogatory term for an Irish person or a person of Irish descent. In Australia the meaning broade ...
?' She was the Dallas Butter Queen. Groupies had titles then.”

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...

was quoted as saying "I’d rather spend an evening with her than in the living room of

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...

." In his autobiography, Cassidy wrote that his band and crew "just gasped when they heard that Barbara the Butter Queen was actually coming to do them all."

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

said he "got along with her famously."

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

singer

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

dedicated the song " Dazed & Confused" to her on stage in 1973, and a number of the band's

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

tracks are named after her. The first track on the first album by British group Three Man Army features lyrics about her and is entitled "Butter Queen". Cope said she visited 52 major cities in the United States while following bands, and traveled to 11 different countries with them. She "retired" from groupie life in 1972. She apparently had a collection of Jimi Hendrix autographed material that she sold to help make ends meet in later years. In 1987, she appeared on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

'' and discussed her time as a groupie. She told Winfrey that she had had sex with about 2,000 musicians.

Marriage

She married David Cope on May 23, 1968 in Dallas, and had one son, born in 1968.

Death

Barbara Cope died in a fire at her mother's home in East Dallas on the morning of January 14, 2018. She was 67 and was survived by a son. Her 93-year-old mother Earline Collins was injured in the blaze and died on August 24, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Barbara 1950 births 2018 deaths Groupies Year of birth unknown People from Dallas Deaths from fire in the United States Accidental deaths in Texas