Kevin Parker has said enough. The leader of Tame Impala has announced that he will no longer sign autographs or take photos with fans outside hotels, airports or concerts. The reason is the increase in the so-called “autograph hounds”, professional hunters who pursue artists to get their signatures and sell them later.
«Due to the increase in aggressive autograph hunters, I am no longer going to sign anything or take photos in front of hotels or at airports. So, if you find me, please don’t be offended if I say no,” he explained in his stories.
The phenomenon is not new, since these hunters have spent decades locating where celebrities stay, what shows they visit or what airports they pass through to appear with photos, records, posters or vinyl ready to sign. The pieces can then end up in specialty stores, auction houses, or platforms like eBay, where certain autographs fetch hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Some hunters are also so insistent that they have been recorded chasing and harassing dozens of different celebrities.
The distance between fan and business is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, and several artists have set firm boundaries. Chappell Roan has recently confronted people who followed her with items to sign and who were publicly reported to be resellers. Noah Kahan has also denounced that these “scalpers” find out where the artists or their equipment stay and wait there to pressure them until they get a signature that they can then sell.
In the case of Rosalía, some images went viral of the singer being harassed in Paris by the same group of autograph hunters that had harassed Chappell Roan, also with several albums prepared for her to sign.
Kevin Parker’s decision also comes at a particularly sweet moment for the Australian. Parker is currently on tour for ‘Deadbeat’, his fifth album, with major concerts in the United States and Canada. ‘Loser’ and ‘Dracula’ have become two huge hits, even on global charts, while ‘End of Summer’ earned him a Grammy earlier this year.
Parker wanted to make it clear that his decision does not have to do with a lack of affection towards the fans, but rather with safety. Before leaving a hotel becomes an involuntary photocall for him, Parker has preferred to say no to autographs.
