Studio 54 is a former nightclub and currently a Broadway theatre, located at 254 West 54th Street, between Eighth Avenue and Broadway in Manhattan, New York City. The building, originally built as the Gallo Opera House, opened in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming CBS radio and television Studio 52.
In the late 1970s, at the peak of the disco dancing and music trend, the building was renamed after its location, and became a world-famous nightclub and discotheque. The nightclub founders spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on professional lighting design, and kept many of the former TV and theatrical sets, in the process creating a unique dance club that became famous for its celebrity guest lists, restrictive (and subjective) entry policies (based on one's appearance and style), and open club drug use.
These images capture the world's most famous nightclub Studio 54 during its 33-month existence, populated by celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart and Andy Warhol.
The wild success of the 70s New York club has forever been put down to owner Steve Rubell's first rule of partying: 'The key to a good party is filling a room with guests more interesting than you.'
By 1978, within a year of transforming it from a theatre to a nightclub, Studio 54 had made $7million and Rubell was quoted as saying 'only the Mafia made more money.'
A born and bred New Yorker, Rubell was said to guard the club's door like his life depended on it, letting in only those he considered glamourous enough.
It soon developed a reputation for being the world's most exclusive, hardest to get in to nightspot.
He forever sought the perfect combination of black and white, straight and gay, - something he called 'mixing the salad' and would tell people to go home and change or rather more bluntly 'you're ugly, you're not coming in.'
They bought a building at 254 W. 54th St. in New York and spent $400,000 on turning it into a nightclub that included a huge man-in-the-moon hanging over the dance floor. When a large hanging spoon came to rest under its nose, the man-in-the-moon lit up.
They named the club Studio 54, and the doors opened on April 16, 1977.
One strategy to ensure the A-list celebrities would return time after time was to lavish them with gifts and attention.
For Bianca Jagger's 30th birthday, a costumed show was performed by staff and professional dancers, and right at the end, Ms Jagger came riding out on the stage on a white horse.
For Andy Warhol's birthday Rubell was said to be so unsure as to what best to get him he ended up presenting the artist with a metal bin full of dollar bills.
Legend has it that Warhol said it was the best present he had ever had.
The music finally stopped on December 1979 when the club was raided by the Inland Revenue and bags full of money were found stashed throughout the building.
A final party and prison send-off was held in February 1980, and Diana Ross serenaded Rubell and Shrager in front of a packed crowd that included Richard Gere, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone and Gia Carangi.
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