Lori Mattix (sometimes known as Lori Maddox) was born in Los Angeles in 1958. When she was 13, Lori made her entry into the rock n roll scene with Sable Starr. They were regulars at the Rainbow Bar & Grill, Rodney’s English Disco, the Continental Hyatt House (the notorious “Riot House”), and the Whisky A Go Go.
Lori Mattix became a teen model for several magazines including the Star magazine, the most popular of the time. Lori’s petite frame, large brown eyes and masses of chestnut curls drew her many admirers. It was reported that she lost her virginity to David and Angie Bowie at 13.
When a photo of her was shown to Jimmy Page, he quickly became infatuated with her. He was still dating Miss Pamela of the GTO’s (later Pamela Des Barres) during this time, but when he was in LA in 1972 on the Zeppelin tour Jimmy Page went after Lori Mattix.
Lori avoided Jimmy Page’s advances several times. She admitted that she was frightened of him. Finally Led Zeppelin’s tour manager “kidnapped” her and brought her to Jimmy’s room at the Hyatt.
In an interview for the Hammer of the Gods, a biography of Led Zeppelin, Lori Mattix said that the room “was dimly lit by candles… and Jimmy was just sitting there in a corner, wearing this hat slouched over his eyes and holding a cane. It was really mysterious and weird… He looked just like a gangster. It was magnificent.”
The love affair of Jimmy Page and Lori Mattix started that night. It was kept secret since she was only 14 and Jimmy was still dating Pamela. His relationship with Pamela ended dramatically when he took her to a party for the band but left with Lori.
Accounts during this time said that Jimmy and Lori were very much in love and for the next year and a half she traveled often with the Led Zeppelin band. But when Lori turned 16 he left her for Bebe Buell, the Playmate who had recently been living with Todd Rundgren.
Bebe was Jimmy’s date for the Swan Song soiree, which Lori found incredibly upsetting since she was still in love with him.
Out of her mind on Quaaludes, she stumbled around the party, bloodying her nose and soaking her white gown in blood. When Bebe and Jimmy were leaving the party, she cornered them, screaming at Jimmy, “Why are you doing this to me?” but he ignored her and went to the Rainbow Room where he had a huge fight with Bebe over his cruelty to Lori.
Lori went to the Hyatt the next day where she found Jimmy and Bebe in bed together. She fled but came back later and knocked on the door. When Bebe opened the door with the chain on it, Lori reached through, grabbing Bebe’s hair and trying to drag her out.
Jimmy watched his former and current girlfriends fight it out from the safety of his room, laughing hysterically.
Lori drifted out of the groupie scene and briefly got back together with Jimmy in the early 1980s. She supposedly never got over the pain of their first breakup but has gone on to a stable career as a buyer in LA and has a son.
Just like Sable, Lori’s style was an amalgamation of trash and full-on glamour. Often wearing hot pants with halter tops made from long, thin scarves that barely covered her pre-pubescent breasts, Lori was just as likely to wear a vintage 1940s satin gown with a mink stole.
Even in her trashiest outfits, her huge smile lights up the snapshots and she never appears as cheap as Sable sometimes did. More openly romantic than her good friend, it isn’t hard to see how she was so deeply affected by the events of her teenage years.
After drifting out of the groupie scene, Lori Mattix held a series of jobs. She worked as a buyer and manager at a fashion boutique in Los Angeles. Lori occasionally gives interviews where she talks about her groupie days, especially her relationship with Jimmy Page.