In what has to be one of the most outlandish and memorable photos from Studio 54, we have Bianca Jagger (then-wife of Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger) riding into her birthday celebration at the club on a horse. This was just one of many crazy things you could see at Studio 54 on any given night.
However, the story behind this iconic photo is not what we've heard all our lives. Here's the real story, according to Bianca Jagger--"It was a beautiful white horse that reminded me of mine, and I made the foolish decision to get on it for a few minutes … No doubt you will agree with me that it is one thing to, on the spur of the moment, to get on a horse in a nightclub, but it is quite another to ride in on one."
No one can don a stylish, crazy outfit like the indomitable supermodel Grace Jones. We're not entirely sure what's going on with that giant, paper-chain looking neck piece, but the golden glasses are a great touch, and Jones seems to be loving what she's wearing...whatever that happens to be.
When this photo was taken in 1978, Jones was one of the hottest models and musicians around. She had just released her second disco album, Fame, that year, with multiple singles reaching the top ten on the charts. Things couldn't have been going better for her, and she couldn't have looked better than in this photo!
During its heyday, Studio 54 was the club to be at, as evidenced by this photo where a giant crowd is trying to get in. It's estimated that the disco nightclub made more than $7 million during its first year of operation. That's pretty impressive considering that it only took about $400,000 to get the club running.
However, getting in wasn't easy, considering that the place was always crawling with celebrities. Andy Warhol, one of Studio 54's most notable regulars, had this to say about the exclusive club--"The key of the success of Studio 54 is that it's a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor."
If you're a fan of the Rolling Stones, then you would have loved Studio 54. Lead singer Mick Jagger was a big fan of the club and could be spotted there frequently. In this photo, he's arriving with model Jerry Hall--whom he had begun a relationship with a year prior.
As a model, Hall couldn't just wear any old thing to Studio 54. She needed to look drop dead gorgeous every time she stepped through the door--which was quite frequently! She had this to say about her looks during her Studio 54 days--"Lots of bling! And lots of Halston. Jersey and draped and quite chic, you know."
When you think of a disco nightclub, you normally think of young people, but Studio 54 was a place where people of all ages could get together and have a good time--assuming you were famous enough, that is. Of course, Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor made the list with no problems and even celebrated her 46th birthday there.
It seems like Taylor had quite the blowout. According to one partygoer that night, "[It was the] most amazing party of all…The Rockettes performed and then presented the movie star, who was standing on a float of gardenias between Halston and her then-husband, Senator John Warner of Virginia, along with a cake that was a full-size portrait of her. As Taylor gamely cut a good luck slice from the buttercream bosom, Warner fled the paparazzi.”
This star-studded lineup of celebrities might seem like a big deal, but this was just another regular night at everyone's favorite disco nightclub. Pictured in this photo are artist Andy Warhol, model Jerry Hall, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, writer Truman Capote, and fashion designer Paloma Picasso.
This photo was taken during the club's heyday, and these stars were far from the only ones who regularly made appearances at Studio 54. Others included Farrah Fawcett, David Bowie, Salvador Dali, Dolly Parton, and Richard Gere, just to name a few!
Studio 54 may have brought in lots of Hollywood celebrities, but they were far from the only stars to make an appearance. The club was also a hotspot for up-and-coming fashion designers. In this picture, designer Diana von Furstenberg lounges on a couch in the club with her then-boyfriend Barry Diller.
Von Furstenberg found Studio 54 and New York in general at the time the perfect place to be for a designer, saying, "It was a real fun time to be in New York. And to be young in the 70s was very good. And to be in fashion was very interesting because the '70s was like the '30s. It's those decades that don't go out of style. The '70s is still glamorous, the '30s is still glamorous."
When you look at this photo, your eye probably first goes to musical legend Rod Stewart. He's just got a face you can't forget--as does his then-future wife Alana Hamilton. However, the most influential person in the photo is definitely the guy on the left--Steve Rubell, co-owner of Studio 54.
While that might sound like a glamorous job to have, Studio 54 ruined Rubell's life, even though it was mostly Rubell's own actions that brought about his downfall. After publicly bragging that only the Mafia made more money than Studio 54, the FBI raided the place and Rubell went to prison for tax evasion.
There's no telling what these three were probably discussing that night at Studio 54, but there's no doubt that it was fabulous. Pictured in this photo are Bianca Jagger, fashion designer Halston, and Hollywood superstar Liza Minnelli. Unfortunately for Minnelli, she would go on to eventually overdose one night at the club.
However, Minnelli's infamy at Club 54 doesn't stop there. After the club's owners were convicted of tax evasion the place had to shut down, which it did in 1980. But not before Minnelli gave a stunning performance singing at the last party ever thrown at Studio 54.
Even though the place was huge and always packed, getting into Studio 54 was easier said than done. There are numerous legendary tales about wannabe clubgoers getting sent away at the door because the owners didn't like what they were wearing. One woman even died in the club's air vents as she tried to sneak her way in.
However, for the lucky few who made it in, dancing the night away in a (probably) drug-fueled reverie was their rich, disco reward. And there was always something crazy happening there--like the night an event planner had four tons of glitter dropped onto the dance floor to celebrate New Year's Eve.
Studio 54 was no place for kids, but that doesn't mean that some (especially the rich and famous kind) didn't find their way onto the dance floor. These include actresses Brook Shields and Mariel Hemingway, both pictured in this photo. At the time it was taken, Shields would have been around 14 while Hemingway would have just turned 18.
At the time this picture was taken, Hemingway had just starred in Woody Allen's Manhattan, one of the most successful and memorable roles of her career. Similarly, Shields had made her debut as an actress a year before in the controversial film Pretty Baby--and she was a year away from making another controversial film, The Blue Lagoon.
These days, whether fairly or unfairly, it seems that people don't have a lot of love for either Michael Jackson or Woody Allen. But back in the 1970s, people couldn't get enough of either of them who were both famous in their own way. So, it's no wonder that both were spotted at Studio 54.
However, according to some patrons of that era, Jackson didn't always enjoy the vibe at Studio 54. The place was nothing if not a den of iniquity--drugs, sex, you name it--and that was apparently too much for the King of Pop to handle. So, he'd allegedly go up to the DJ booth alone where he could dance in peace.
By the 1980s, the glory days of Studio 54 were long over. The original owners had gone to prison, and it just wasn't possible to recreate the magic. That being said, the club stayed open through the 1980s, despite being a shell of its former self. Need an example? See this photo.
By 1985, the legendary and debauched party atmosphere was long gone--the place was sanitized enough that actress Blythe Danner felt comfortable bringing her daughter, a 13-year-old Gwyneth Paltrow along for the fun. They might have been famous, but they certainly didn't match the look or style of the club's original clientele.
When it came to Studio 54, almost everyone inside was famous, but they weren't all famous in the same way. Case in point--this photo featuring Charlie's Angels sweetheart Farrah Fawcett bumping elbows with legendary ballet dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov. You really never knew who you were gonna meet there!
While Fawcett might have been a regular at the club, Baryshnikov went to great lengths to explain that he only attended parties there a few times, saying, "Seriously, I was there with Martha Graham, twice, and Andy Warhol and Liza [Minnelli] and Mick Jagger and those people, because at that time everybody was there. But how could I be there until 6 o’clock in the morning when I had to be at 10 o’clock in the class, at dance class. No, of course not! Just a few times."
Cher absolutely dominated the music world in the 1970s (and the '60s...and the '80s...and the '90s), so it should come as no surprise that she attended parties at this historic disco institution. In this photo, she's pictured with famed music producer David Geffen. She looks like she's having a better time than he is!
Like many other celebrities of the era, Cher was practically a fixture at Studio 54, making more appearances than you could count and soaking up the attention from the paparazzi. The famous singer should be counting her lucky stars that she emerged from this era unscathed from the ever-present drugs and other vices that flowed free at Studio 54.
