The stunning photography of Mick Rock

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Rock snapped this photo of Bono and Lady Gaga in 2009. An enthusiastic hedonist, Rock revealed to NME that he nearly died 14 years ago. “For over 20 years I’d been on a rampant run… You know, I could always take pictures, but the rest of my life was just chaotic. I mean, there are many ways of getting high and none of them involve chemicals, but it took me a few years to figure that one out.”

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Mick Rock has photographed many modern-day stars, as well. This shot of Snoop Dogg was taken in 2009, the same year the rapper released his tenth studio album, ‘Malice n Wonderland’.

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Rock says that 18 months ago, Iggy Pop revealed that three months after the release of ‘Raw Power’, it was in the 50p bin. “It was a dead loss at the time,” says Rock. “Nowadays of course it’s regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and so is the cover. Iggy’s energy is in his live performance. He’s like no-one else.”

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This image of Queen, taken in 1974, was used for the band’s ‘Queen II’ album cover. it was also the inspiration behind the band’s music video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

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You can see more photographs like this 2005 shot of Dave Grohl at the Idea Generation gallery exhibit (in association with Zippo), from 11 Nov-16 Jan.

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This photograph of The Ramones is an outtake from the ‘End Of The Century’ album photo session in 1979.

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This photograph of The Prodigy was taken during a photo session for the cover of Big Shot magazine. Click here to watch a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot.

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Here’s a photograph of Brian Eno from 1974. Rock says during those years, “Boys wanted to look a bit like girls, and I shot all kinds of characters. People ask me how come I have the best pictures? And I say ‘Aha, I got the only pictures’.”

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Mick Rock snapped this photo of The Gossip in 2009. Be sure to pick up a copy of this week’s NME to read more about the iconic photographer.

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Rock has said that he can make anyone look like a poof or a poet, even Ozzy Osbourne (like in this 1975 photograph). He later photographed Ozzy’s daughter, Kelly, who revealed that this was her favourite session of her dad.

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Mick Rock made an appearance in this 2002 photograph with Kate Moss. He’s described the model as unpretentious and very cool – just like one of the boys.

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Rock says that when he first met David Bowie in 1972, there were 400 people at his concert at Birmingham Town Hall. “Someone had given me a promo copy of ‘Hunky Dory’ and I was bowled over,” says Rock. “I played ‘Life on Mars’ over and over. Of course, I made videos of David at that time including the one for ‘Life on Mars’. I had time on my hands and we kinda rolled with it as it were.”

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