It’s a legendary nightclub with as much intrigue surrounding it as the late seventies itself: It was a time when art, culture, music, and nightlife came together in a perfect storm of (often) drug-fueled disco dancing and depravity. Owned by entrepreneur Steve Rubell, the club had a reputation for getting down and dirty, all the while hosting some of the era’s most famous faces.
Crowds linger outside the entrance to Studio 54, which was at one point Manhattan’s most popular nightclub.
Andy Warhol and his crew frequented Studio 54 in its heyday.
Designer Diane von Furstenberg appears on the floor looking ravishing.
Actor and comedian Robin Williams dances with his wife, Valerie Velardin in 1979.
Dame Rollerena, drag queen who skated the streets of New York, doing her thing at Studio 54.
Singer Bette Midler greets The Temptations, who were at Studio 54 to celebrate their new recording contract.
Dancer Rudolf Nureyev initiates nine-year-old Ricky Schroder, a brand new movie star, into the Studio 54 dance club.
An unidentified woman whispers in the ear of British rock star Elton John.
A general view of the dance floor as club patrons forget their worries and dance the night away.
A typically attired busboy at Studio 54 in New York, clearing drinks on his head.
Purple-caped dancers hitting the floor, sometime in 1977.
Singing star Diana Ross and comedian Richard Pryor cutting a rug at the club.
Calvin Klein, Brooke Shields and Steve Rubell pictured at a Calvin Klein party hosted by the club in 1978.
Bianca Jagger and companion hit the Studio 54 dance floor in 1977.
Farrah Fawcett dancing with Richard Barrie, president of Faberge.
Jack Ford, son of former President Gerald Ford, sharing secrets with Alice Cooper in a dark corner of the club.
American actors Sylvester Stallone and actress Joyce Ingalls getting cozy at Studio 54 in 1978.
Muhammad Ali getting all the attention at the club in 1978.
Young actress Tatum O’Neal getting a little lift from dancer Sterling Saint Jacque on the dance floor of Studio 54.
Fashion designer Valentino dressed as a ringmaster and hanging with Brazilian model Dalma in 1978.
Rock star Elton John is shown and actress Stockard Channing at New York’s Studio 54, celebrating the release of Channing’s movie, Grease.
John F. Kennedy Jr. trying to avoid photographers when leaving Studio 54 in 1978.
In 1978, the IRS seized the books of Studio 54, and the owners were charged with tax evasion. It was the beginning of the end for the legendary club.
Stopped watching, the dirge was too depressing
Disco dancing and the music was great! I sure miss those times when I was young, dancing in my Candies.
Studio 54 – TRASH.
Oh boy do I miss those days
That's when New York City was real
Women had nipples back then they didn't cover them with duct tape and they didn't wear bra because they had just recently fought for the right to not cover their breasts
How far we have slipped back into oppression
all the attention whores gathered in one place
What a dirty slut that Bianca J. is. Mick should forbid her to use his name!
That place was the devil and evil
I was a kid in the 70's and I was in this scene…I'd love it if after watching the video it dried up and blew away in the wind…If you were a kid victimized by this culture in the 70's then the music is beautiful…In the end the most valuable part of this video IS the music…In my mind the waste of life we see in the video fades like it should and the music echoes its just goodbye.
Do you think any of the patrons ever did it with each other?
That's really weird about your t-shirt at that moment. I used to live off of Rayford Sawdust
The song Silver Spring really tear at me
What a shithole club 54.
I lived in NY in 1984 and once had a special pass (borrowed) so you could get in for I think it was $6. It was lent it by a really good looking blond man who was given it so he would be one of the pretty faces… That night a woman called Carol Douglas sang her one hit – Midnight Love Affair … and I met a gay porn star in the foyer who kept asking us to buy his latest release because he had a share of the profits – his name was Lee Ryder and sadly he succumbed to AIDS. As did the really good looking blond friend. All happened at the same time.
Weird entertainers. What else is new?
Wouldn’t like to be that clean up crew.
Paul McCartney as Sly Stallone
Enjoyed this! Noticed how nicely most of the clubbers were dressed compared to today's trashy looks. Thank you for the look back! 🥰
fuck the IRS , fuck um
A nine year old was there .michael Jackson was close by.he started young.
What a time, a time it was
Give you a thumbs down for the back ground music.
…and they gave it all up to be a star on CNN News.
The beginning of recreational cocaine use and herpes amongst our finest citizens.
STEVE RUEBEL WAS A GAY PEDO
Freedom I miss that
The unidentified woman whispering to Elton John looks suspiciously like Stevie Nicks
ahhh the disco days…
75% of these people OD'd or died from aids. Hence the music. "Staying Alive" would've been inappropriate. Of course if Bruce Jenner had been in it, "more than a woman" would've worked.
What's with the music?
Maybe Le Freak, We are a family… But the music killed the video. Consider that for next time.
Thanks! These are great pics, but different music would make a world of difference!
The Unidentified woman with Elton John is Nancy Wilson from HEART. Her sister ANN is right next to her.
This is supposed to be some Fall of the Roman Empire-level of decadence but look how well-dressed everyone is. Compared with spring break at South Padre Island, these folks look like they're on their way to a job interview.
I worked at Fiorucci's in 1977 — the oldest salesman there at 40. The other sale "kids" had open invitations to Studio 54 and assured me I would get in if I went with them. I didn't have a suitable "costume" and was mortified by the idea of being turned away, though I was less than nobody and had no reason to have any pride that could be hurt. I've always regretting not trying to get in. I would have loved the busboy at 1:22 — Andy Warhol and Diana Ross meant nothing to me. I'd already passed up a chance to go to private party with the Beatles when the English chorus girls I danced with at the Casino de Paris were invited by them; again because I couldn't bear the idea of perhaps being turned away, which it later became clear wouldn't have happened. God, we're silly when we're young . . . or at least some of us are.
ALL FLASH & NO SUBSTANCE,THE END OF AN ERA OF DECADENCE,JUST LIKE THE ROARING 20,S.
STOP…PLZ,MY NOSE IS BLEEDING.
Lots of coke going 'round. You can just see it!
Why isn’t there disco music instead of what sounds like a soundtrack to liberating nazi concentration camps?
Menuda música de mierda u deprimente le han puesto al.video …..fatal
Where's the pic of a young bartender Alec Baldwin with his kneepads?
Nothing is more decadent than a night club.
TYou must have a bunch of Diane von Furstenberg play with the kids, then she and her then husband would get dressed to the nines, her in her own creation have one single drink there almost every night after the children were in bed and the night governess in her suite.
Why the heavy dirge music??
First off the music is absolutely dreadful……and secondly I can only imagine the shenanigans that went on in this Club……all so very exciting !
Degenerates.
That is Bianca Mick did not like her dancing with that guy but…Mick has always did what he wanted to do.
When Studio54 was on and Poppin in77' I was 15, I wished I could have been part of the Studio54 crowd I wanted to go my Mother said NO! You can't go everything is going on in that place and Somebody is going to be found in there DEAD. Yes I did miss out in life the Disco Scene if I would have been permitted I would've had a BALL STUDIO54 WAS ALL THE WAY LIVE GOD BLESS STEVE RUBELL