Yes, that's Michael Jackson in the hat.
No club is probably better known than New York's Studio 54.
54, which was in operation from 1977-1981, was known for its celebrity clientele, the nightly mob scene outside its doors with thousands of people jostling for a spot beyond the velvet rope and the drugs and debauchery going on inside.
It was the right club, in the right place at the right time – for a total of only 33 months. The stories of what happened inside – from Bianca Jagger (then wife of Mick) riding a white horse into the club on her birthday, to the famous crescent moon snorting coke over the dance floor (see above) – are endless. Everyone from Hollywood's elite to world politicians were regulars including Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor, Halston, Mick Jagger, Calvin Klein, Elton John, Margaret Trudeau, Truman Capote, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Diana Ross, Cher, Salvador Dali, John Travolta, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and Brooke Shields to name just a few.
In 1978, club co-owner Steve Rubell made the mistake of telling the press the club made $7 million in its first year and that "only the Mafia made more money." That comment put Studio 54 on the radar of the Internal Revenue Service and it was soon raided. Rubell and co-owner Ian Schrager were arrested for skimming $2.5 million.
Schrager and Rubell pleaded guilty to tax evasion and spent 13 months in prison and while the club remained open under different management, it was never quite the same.
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