Gyrating grannies, megastars and a topless 'Lady Godiva' on a white horse... amazing pictures reveal
IN its heyday, Studio 54 was the hangout of seventies superstars, including Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and pop art king Andy Warhol.
The New York club was famed for its hedonistic clientele with drag queens and naked girls mixing freely with the stars – and an “anything goes” attitude.
In 1978, a year after it was converted from a theatre to a nightclub, owners Steve Rubell and partner Ian Shragel had raked in £5.5 million and boasted that “only the Mafia made more money.”
At the height of its fame, Bianca Jagger famously rode a white horse through the club to celebrate her 30th birthday and, for his birthday, Andy Warhol was presented with a bucket full of dollar bills.
To get into the exclusive nightspot you had first to get past Steve, who guarded the door every night and frequently sent people home to change or told them “you're ugly, you're not coming in.”
But he lavished the famous faces with treats and gifts to make sure they kept coming back.
The doors finally closed on in December 1979, 33 months after opening, when the club was raided by tax officials and bags full of money were found hidden around the building.
A final party and prison send-off was held in February 1980, with Diana Ross serenading Steve and Ian, watched by club regulars including Richard Gere, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone and Gia Carangi.
The owners were jailed and sold the building to Mark Fleischman, who reopened the club in 1981.
But it never again reached the iconic status of the 1977-79 era.
Ian Shrager has recently opened a "hotel of the future", where guests do their own check-in and collect their own room service.
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