‘Sade wasn’t particularly friendly’: the stories behind music’s most iconic portraits – in pictures
Photographer Gered Mankowitz shares behind-the-scenes stories from decades of shooting some of music's biggest stars, in a gallery accompanying an interview with the Guardian. The anecdotes reveal contrasting encounters, from warm and playful sessions with the likes of Elton John and Duran Duran to notably frosty ones with Sade and a tense Rolling Stones shoot, offering a candid glimpse into what it was actually like to photograph famous musicians at the height of their fame.
Among the highlights, Mankowitz recalls Elton John turning up in pink shoes for a 1977 cricket-themed shoot, and a 1981 session with Duran Duran that later produced the cover for their single Girls on Film. He also describes Sade as "reserved and not particularly friendly" during a 30-minute 1985 shoot for Mojo magazine, and a fraught 1982 Rolling Stones session in which Mick Jagger was "in a foul mood" and Keith Richards accused him of dredging up "bad times". A rejected 1998 portrait of Marianne Faithfull, later embraced by the singer herself, and a 1986 Eurythmics shoot in Paris that inspired the Revenge album cover are also featured.
- Photographer Gered Mankowitz recounts stories behind famous music portraits.
- Sade was "reserved" during a brief 1985 Mojo shoot.
- A 1982 Rolling Stones session turned tense with Jagger and Richards.
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Photographer Gered Mankowitz has spent decades taking portraits of some of music's best-known names, and a new gallery accompanying a Guardian interview brings together his memories of those sessions. It covers stars including Elton John, Duran Duran, Sade, the Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull and Eurythmics, spanning the 1970s to the 1990s.
The gallery is less about the finished images than what happened behind the camera, with Mankowitz recalling how some artists were relaxed and easy to work with while others were guarded or difficult on the day. Several of these sessions produced pictures that became well known in their own right, including a magazine cover and an album sleeve.
The piece matters as a reminder that iconic music photography often involved tense, brief or awkward encounters rather than easy collaboration, and offers a rare first-hand account from the photographer who was actually in the room.