What does "bad girls go backstage" mean?

Solution 1:

Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go backstage.

Constructions of this type have been termed a snowclone, meaning a cliché with at least one part that can be replaced at will. Basically, every iteration of the pattern suggests that bad girls have sex, in this case, like a rock groupie.

The most immediate ancestor of your expression is

Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere.

variously attributed to Mae West, but definitely popularized by feminist Helen Gurley Brown, though in a subversive sense that exposes the patriarchal convenience that bad girls are sluts. It also made its way into song lyrics by Jim Steinman and covered by various artists.

The expression is actually a condensed joke, like this one, for instance, from 1900:

A mother who was talking to her little girl the other evening was greatly surprised at the answer she received to one of her questions. “My child, where do good girls go when they die?” “To heaven, of course.” “My dear, where do bad girls go?” “To the depot to see the traveling men come in.”

While the first part is always fixed, the second may vary, and even drop any veiled allusion to sex.

This is a women’s t-shirt produced primarily for the German market, but using the English snowclone. While most people go to the Oktoberfest to pay exhorbitant prices for draft beer, a Wiesn-Liebschaft is an affair usually assumed not to last much longer than the festival. The Wiesn lit. ‘meadow’ is the fairgrounds where the festival is held.

Solution 2:

Being invited "backstage" at a concert means that you are invited to meet the band before/after the show in the non-public areas of the venue, when they are preparing for the show or hanging out after the show.

This is considered a great privilege among fans, since that invitation has to either come from a band member, or from venue staff with the consent of a band member. It means you are either an established friend of theirs, or a stranger considered worth partying with in whatever manner; whether it is about talking, drinking, "groupie" behaviour, or whatever else does not matter here at all - if she is a fan, she will consider having a beer with the band a privilege (just as a male fan would); if she wants casual sex, she will see that as a privilege too; if both matter, so what. There can only be a limited number of members of the general public invited to do so at each concert, since backstage rooms tend to be small and cramped, and having too many people there would both be a security risk and ruin the semi-private atmosphere.

The whole comparison is about conventional ("heaven") vs subcultural ("backstage") success.

Solution 3:

What does the phrase mean?

One can find the ending phrase in many iterations:

bad girls do or go etc x, y and z

I searched Oxford for the definition of a good girl: = nada!
I searched Oxford for the definition of a good boy: +1.
I searched Oxford for definition of a bad boy: +1.

I searched Oxford for the definition of bad girl

bad girl
Informal (originally US). A woman who defies expected or approved standards of conduct, especially one who behaves in a wild, rebellious, or sexually provocative manner
English Oxford Dictionaries

Urban Dictionary citation:

A girl with many characteristics of assholes or douchebags. They are independent, willful, and unlike good girls do and say as they please as they fear no consequences. The only opinions that matter to them is their opinion of themselves. They challenge the female population and society as they are fierce, refuse to follow trends, and make a name for themselves without conforming to what society sees as 'right for women'.

They aren't looking for trouble, but there is something dangerous about her. Their dark beauty and snarky sense of humor draws men in like moths to a flame. Famous for their spontaneous/ fun/ cunning personality, good looks and brains.

NOT to be confused with skanks, or sluts, or girls who 'drink/ fuck/ and pop pills'

Tend to always be sexier and more alluring than Good girls. Bad girls: Angelina Jolie, Rihanna, Megan Fox, Blair Waldorf, Natalia Kills, Penelope Cruz

Doubt there is much of a call for:

good boys to heaven, bad boys go to x, y or Z.

What about going backstage? Merriam One can make their own assumptions:

1 : of, relating to, or occurring in the area behind the stage and especially in the dressing rooms 2 : of or relating to the private lives of theater people

What does all this mean? Different strokes for different folks.

Solution 4:

In the subculture of people who attend (or historically attended) rock concerts, there is a stereotype - which is true for some people and some bands, but not true for all people/bands.

The stereotype is that these people - typically teenage girls- are attracted to the band, its performers or the glamour of the performance, and go to the concert with the hope of getting the attention of a member of the band and perhaps being invited to their private dressing room behind the stage ("backstage") or their hotel, to have a sexual encounter with them. It could be any band member, or perhaps a specific member they have a "crush" on - perhaps even a member of their crew. It could be more like a "trophy" - being able to boast about it, like an achievement.

An example of the behaviour which gives rise to this stereotype can be seen in videos of "Beatlemania", and related behaviour and videos. The same behaviour can be seen among intense fans of many other music bands. Its also seen in other situations where members of the public have an almost fanatical adoration of some public figure who is perceived as erotically desirable or sexual fantasy/trophy material to them.

So "bad girls go backstage" means, that while a "good" girl follows norms and gets the conventional and not-so-special "normal" reward ("goes to heaven"), "bad" girls have more fun by breaking the accepted social norm, and by being wild, and by succeeding in having wonderful and wild encounters "backstage" with famous rock stars - themselves common objects of fantasy. The expression also pokes fun at the idea of "good" girls, who are implied to be compliant but gain less enjoyment from their more usual conduct.