AGE: 27

HOMETOWN: Los Angeles

CLAIM TO FAME: The son of music producer Lou Adler dates The O.C.'s Mischa Barton and sings in the band Whitestarr

▪ FOOL FOR LOVE: "My vice has always been women," says Adler, who began dating Barton, 20, last summer, after breaking up with Rod Stewart's daughter Kimberly. "That's what causes the drama in my life." While fans may think Whitestarr's first single from their debut CD Luv Machine, "Sunshine Girl," perfectly describes the O.C. starlet, "it's about Kim," Adler says. "Most of the record is. Every girl I've ever been with has probably made it into a song." But only after the fact: "When you're really happy, you're too busy being happy to write about it." And right now "I'm happy and Mischa's great."

▪ INK PATTERNS: Given his history with love-induced tattoos, don't expect Adler to be carving Barton's name in anything other than his lyric sheet. In November Adler—whose body features 11 designs—had his "Kimberly" chest tattoo covered up with a rose and leaves. "You can still kind of see it," he chuckles. "Once [Mischa and I] got serious it was the first thing I did, because it bothered me. She never said anything." Though he sees a long future with Barton, Adler says no more girlfriend tattoos: "It's a curse on the relationship."

▪ HEADLINE ACT: Being Barton's beau "is a hook, and we understand that," Adler says. "But our flyers don't say 'Come see this dude's girl.' How long have rockers dated models or actresses? I didn't invent the wheel here." Before that, the buzz on Whitestarr was about their famous fathers (Adler's dad worked with Sam Cooke and Carole King, and drummer Alex Orbison is the son of Roy Orbison). "It does suck sometimes," says guitarist Rainbow Jeremy. But "it's gonna get to the point where the overshadowing is going to end."

▪ BREAKING THE BAND: The hillside Malibu home his dad gave him may be straight out of The O.C., but don't call Adler a spoiled, trust-fund baby. "My dad just ain't funneling me money. That stopped a long time ago, when the bills started showing up in my mailbox," says Adler, who lived with his mom, Phyllis Somer, on Maui from age 9 to 20. (Never married, his parents split in 1979.) "I was a rich little kid, but I'm just in a struggling band right now. And my mom is dead broke. So I gotta get rich and buy her a house!"