Confessions of a '70s groupie: 'I lost my virginity to David Bowie.'

The 1970s: a time when rock stars were gods and groupies were there to worship. 

Lori Maddox knows about it all too well. With good friend Sable Starr, the two were among the posse of groupies who provided the inspiration for Kate Hudson’s character in iconic film, Almost Famous.

Born and raised in North Hollywood, Lori became part of the Los Angeles groupie scene in the early ’70s.

While Lori's mother worked nights, she and Sable, who was dating Iggy Pop, would sneak out to clubs on the Sunset Strip in search of musicians, she told Thrillist.com - and that's where she met David Bowie.

"What I remember most about the E Club was Bowie. I met him when he was doing the Spiders from Mars tour. He wanted to take me to his hotel room. I was still a virgin and terrified.

"He had hair the colour of carrots, no eyebrows, and the whitest skin imaginable. I grabbed on to [DJ and club co-owner] Rodney Bingenheimer and said I was with him. So we all just hung out and talked. I had probably kissed boys by that point, but I wasn’t ready for David Bowie."

Five months later, Lori changed her tune. Next time Bowie was in town, they went for dinner and while they were seated at their corner table in a private room, John Lennon and Yoko Ono stopped to say hello. It was another world.

Watch the trailer below for Almost Famous. Post continues after video. 

Afterwards, they made their way to the Beverly Hilton.

"We got to the Beverly Hilton and all went up to Bowie’s enormous suite. I found myself more and more fascinated by him.

"He was beautiful and clever and poised. I was incredibly turned on. Bowie excused himself and left us [Lori and Sable] in this big living room with white shag carpeting and floor-to-ceiling windows. Stuey brought out champagne and hash. We were getting stoned when, all of a sudden, the bedroom door opens and there is Bowie in this fucking beautiful red and orange and yellow kimono," Lori told Thrillist.com.

"He focused his famously two-colored eyes on me and said, “Lori, darling, can you come with me?” Sable looked like she wanted to murder me. He walked me through his bedroom and into the bathroom, where he dropped his kimono. He got into the tub, already filled with water, and asked me to wash him. Of course I did.

"Then he escorted me into the bedroom, gently took off my clothes, and de-virginized me."

Two hours later, Lori went to check on Sable who was high as a kite, and repeatedly saying, "I want to f*ck David." To which Bowie said, "Well darling, bring her in."

"That night I lost my virginity and had my first threesome. He was totally bisexual. I saw David many times after that, for the next 10 years, and it was always great," Lori told Thrillist.com.

Yet, as it turns out, Lori wasn't just on Bowie's radar, but Jimmy Page's too. Led Zepplin's guitarist called Lori soon after her first encounter with Bowie to see if she wanted to meet up. Lori assumed it was a prank call and hung up, but fate intervened a few weeks later when Lori and Sable were at Iggy Pop's house.

"We found out that Led Zeppelin was staying at the Hyatt House," Lori told Thrillist.com. "So we got to the Hyatt. Everybody was hanging out at the pool, throwing each other in, and Jimmy walked up to me. He said, 'Are you Lori? I’m Jimmy. I told you I would be with you.' It was him on the phone! I couldn’t believe it."

"He wore a wide-brimmed hat and held a cane. It was perfect. He mesmerized me. I fell in love instantly. Zeppelin was starting its tour for Houses of the Holy and Jimmy stationed himself in LA. The band had a private jet, called the Starship, and he flew back and forth from the gigs.

"I put him on a pedestal."

So, what did Lori's mother think of her daughter having flings with rock stars?

"She liked him. She used to be an agent and was savvy to show business. She knew that I was dating the biggest rock star in the world. She used to say, “My daughter is like Priscilla [Presley].” I was Jimmy’s little angel," Lori told Thrillist.com.

Page and Lori's relationship lasted nearly three years. Page then had a relationship with Bebe Buell, a fellow groupie who later had a brief relationship with Aerosmith frontman, Steven Tyler (and is the mother of film star Liv Tyler).

However, the break-up didn't seem to take its toll on Lori.

"I remember being 17 and hanging out at the Record Plant in LA. I was friends with the owner and everybody recorded there. I saw three of the Beatles with Mick Jagger and Stevie Wonder having this great jam session. But then Mick started fighting with McCartney or Lennon over who would sing on a particular song. Mick got pissed off," Lori told Thrillist.com.

"He took me to one of the bondage-themed bedrooms that the studio had. We did blow all night and talked and hung out until the morning."

Looking back, Lori said she wouldn't change a thing.

"That time of my life was so much fun. It was a period in which everything seemed possible," Lori said. "There was no AIDS and the potential consequences seemed to be light. Nobody was afraid of winding up on YouTube or TMZ."

"Now people are terrified. You can’t even walk out your door without being photographed. It has become a different world."