Bob Gruen

Bob Gruen (born October 23, 1945) is an American author and photographer known for his rock 'n' roll photographs. By the mid 1970s, Gruen was already regarded as one of the foremost photographers in music working with major artist such as John Lennon, Tina Turner, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, and Kiss. He also covered emerging New Wave and Punk rock bands, including the New York Dolls, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones, and Blondie. Gruen has also appeared in films.
Career
Gruen was born and raised in New York. After he dropped out of college and quit his job in a photo booth at the New York World's Fair in Queens, he attended the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and took photographs of Bob Dylan performing.
Gruen credits Ike Turner with starting his career. He first saw Ike & Tina Turner perform at Madison Square Garden during the Rolling Stones' American tour in 1969. In 1970, Gruen took photographs of them performing at the Honka Monka nightclub in Queens. He showed Turner the photographs and was invited to photograph them in California. "Ike introduced me to the publicist for their record company who took me to parties and introduced me to more people in the music business," he said. Gruen developed a friendship with the Turners and shot the cover of their 1971 album 'Nuff Said. In 2012, Gruen released Ike & Tina On The Road: 1971–72, a documentary he and his then-wife Nadya filmed of the Turners at their home and on tour.
Gruen served as John Lennon's personal photographer during his time in New York City in 1971. Gruen is best known for his photograph of Lennon wearing a New York City T-shirt. Other notable celebrities and rock bands photographed by Gruen include the New York Dolls, The Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Patti Smith Group, Sonny & Cher, Blondie, Led Zeppelin, The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, Aerosmith, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Courtney Love, and Green Day.
Since 1980, Morrison Hotel Gallery has been the primary representative for Gruen's photography. His work is included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle.
In 2008, Gruen's Rockers, a 280 photograph installation, exhibited at Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York. From December 2011 to January 2012, the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles held an exhibition of Gruen's photographs from his book Rock Seen. His photographs have been exhibited at various art galleries and museums internationally, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Brooklyn Museum, Sotheby's S/2 Gallery London, the Morris Museum in New Jersey, Shelburne Museum in Vermont.
In 2020, Gruen released his memoir Right Place, Right Time: The Life of a Rock & Roll Photographer.
Personal life
Gruen has a son, Kris Gruen, with his former wife Nadya Beck.
Gruen has been married to Elizabeth Gregory Gruen since 1995.
As a humanitarian, Gruen has worked with many local and international charities to raise money in support of their life-affirming missions. A partial list includes: WhyHunger, Her Justice, Tibet House, The Kristen Ann Carrr Fund, The Donaldson Adoption Institute, Save The Music, MusicCares, and Aperture Foundation.
Accolades
In 2004, Gruen was presented with Mojo magazine's prestigious Honours List Award for Classic Image in London.
In 2007, he received the International Society of Photographers Outstanding Achievement Award and the Great Neck Arts Center Artist of Distinction Award.
In 2010, Gruen was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
In 2014, his documentary film Ike & Tina On The Road: 1971–72 won the Living Blues Award for Best Blues DVD of 2013.
For his many charitable contributions, Gruen received the first ever John Lennon Real Love Award at the 32nd Annual John Lennon Tribute Concert in December 2014.
Album cover photography
1971: Ike & Tina Turner – 'Nuff Said
1971: Larry Coryell – Barefoot Boy
1971: Mark Dimond – Brujeria
1971: Labelle – Labelle
1972: Eddy Senay – Hot Thang
1973: Yoko Ono – Approximately Infinite Universe
1974: Fred & The New J.B.'s – Breakin' Bread
1975: John Hammond – Can't Beat The Kid
1975: Kiss – Dressed To Kill
1979: Ramones – It's Alive
1981: John Lennon – John Lennon
1982: Yoko Ono – It's Alright (I See Rainbows)
1993: Bob Dylan – The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
2002: Heart – The Essential Heart
2013: Johnny Winter – Live Bootleg Series Vol. 10
Books
The Sex Pistols: Chaos (1990),
The Rolling Stones – Crossfire Hurricane (1997), Genesis Publications
The Clash (2004),
John Lennon – The New York Years (2005),
Rockers: The Exhibit (Cosac Naify, 2007)
New York Dolls Photographs by Bob Gruen (2008),
Rock Seen: Bob Gruen (2011),
Right Place, Right Time: The Life of a Rock & Roll Photographer (2020),
Films
All Dolled Up – A New York Dolls Story (2005)
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen (2011)
LENNONYC (2010)
New York Dolls – Lookin' Fine on Television (2011)
Ike & Tina on the Road: 1971–72 (2012)
Notes
External links
Official website
Bob Gruen credits on AllMusic
Who Shot Rock & Roll - Gail Buckland, Bob Gruen, and Justin Borucki 2009 Brooklyn Museum panel includes extended presentation by Gruen of his photographs (Video)
Bob Gruen Interview on imaginepeace.com 2010 in-depth interview by Randy Patterson of boomerocity.com
References
1945 births
Living people
Photographers from New York City
American portrait photographers
American humanitarians