22. Lisztomania accompanied composer Franz Liszt starting in 1841
The idea of a musician being swept over by frenzied fans during performances would seem to have begun in more recent times, but the concept and the creation of a portmanteau to describe it began with the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. The hysteria which his music created in his audiences led to him have his clothing torn, women attempted to snip locks of his hair, and in some instances cigar butts discarded by the musician were snatched up by fervent fans. The German writer Heinrich Heine coined a term for the frenzy, calling it Lisztomania. Heine described it as a “veritable insanity”. In 1843 a Munich newspaper described the condition as “Liszt fever”, indicating the fervor had not yet ended after two years.