The Bettys

#39

The Bettys are a group of fans of the band Pray for the Soul of Betty. Although each member started out as just a fan, the group has become more like a family. They come from all over the world. There are members from every state as well as places like Australia, England, the Philippines, China, and many other countries.

There is a message board on the bands website that they talk through almost every day. There is, like with any family, drama. People don’t agree with someone posts and it begins an argument among a few or many of the members. However with the help of the moderators of the boards, this stuff is usually put to a stop before too many people get involved, or it becomes too nasty.

Most of the fans found the band when the lead singer, Constantine Maroulis, was on the reality show American Idol. Some fans had first discovered the band when they saw Constantine, while he was in the touring Broadway show, RENT. There is also a group of fans that had seen the band before either of those things when they were doing shows at small clubs around the country.

The members of the group try to meet up with other local members as much as they can. There are always little parties or gatherings going on all over the country with local members. There is currently a big get together planned in Las Vegas in March. There are people flying in from all over to meet up with some of the other members they have been talking to for months.

The members of this group became members for many different reasons, but have remained members to show their love and support for the band. Whenever the band has a show the Bettys instantly go into promotion mode, or as they call it Street Teaming. They get flyers and posters and start hanging them up all over the city that the show will be in. They also contact local radio stations to try to get them to play the CD. There has been success and the bands songs are being played on radio stations all over the country.

The group is constantly growing, with each new show there is at least one new fan. There are a lot of people who go to the shows strictly because they were a fan of Constantine’s while he was on American Idol, but most of them leave the show a fan of the band.

I myself am a member of this group. I can’t imagine ever not being part of it. I am involved because the band has really changed a lot of things in my life. I know that sounds corny and cliché, but it is true. The bands music has gotten me through some really rough times. Also the friendships I have made through the band are like any other I have ever had. I feel a bond with some of them that I haven’t felt with anyone in a long time.