Posted 11/19/21 by Mike Goldstein, AlbumCoverHallofFame.com
I have the very sad duty to ruin the beginning of your weekend with the report that legendary rock shooter Michael David “Mick” Rock has died. Well-known as “The Man Who Shot The Seventies” in reference to the huge number of albums, magazine articles, books and museum/gallery shows that featured his photos from that era, he was 72.
Mick Rock first met David Bowie in early 1972 and most of the memorable images of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust were shot by Mick in his capacity as Bowie’s official photographer. Rock was instrumental in creating many other key rock ‘n roll images such as album covers for Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, Lou Reed’s Transformer, Queen’s Queen II (recreated for their classic music video ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’) and Joan Jett’s I Love Rock ‘N Roll. He was the chief photographer on the films The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus and he also produced and directed the seminal music videos for Bowie to be found on Bowie’s Sound and Vision DVD collection: ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, ‘Jean Genie’, ‘Space Oddity’, and ‘Life On Mars’. Other notable examples of Rock’s album cover work include the covers for Lou Reed’s Coney Island Baby; Iggy & The Stooges’ Raw Power, Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack and End of the Century for the Ramones.
Tributes from fans and many of the people who knew, worked and loved him have been pouring in from all over the world, as you’ll find in the obituaries and articles referenced in the links posted below:
NME – https://www.nme.com/news/music/legendary-music-photographer-mick-rock-has-died-aged-72-3099649
uDiscovermusic.com – https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/mick-rock-queen-photographer-dead-72/
Planet Rock.com – https://planetradio.co.uk/planet-rock/news/rock-news/mick-rock-dies/
I had the pleasure of corresponding with him several times over the years and, back in 2007, he helped me put together an article about his work on the cover for the 1974 hit record Queen II, which features one of his best-known images of the band. He was kind enough to also share some other shots that came from that photo session, so I’d invite you to read more about this project and the man behind it by clicking on over to https://rockpopgallery.typepad.com/rockpop_gallery_news/2007/08/cover-story-que.html
Take a dive into this great talent’s work by visiting his website – https://www.mickrock.com/ – where you’ll also find a statement from his daughter, Natalie, who is also quite the talent. A man as unique as his work, he’ll surely be missed.
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