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Sex, drugs and disco: The life and death of Studio 54, the legendary celebrity nightclub

For 33 months, from 1978 to 1980, Studio 54 was the place to be, it provided a space for hedonism, tolerance, glamour, subversion and freedom unlike any other before or since

“When you walked through those blacked-out doors, you were in another world,” recalls a clubgoer who frequented Studio 54 — a New York nightclub in the 1970s that forever changed what “going out” meant and created a space where, for the first time, people could be totally free. If they could first get in, of course.

On April 26, 1977, a huge mob formed on the West 54th Street in Manhattan in front of an old TV studio. It was the opening night of Studio 54 and it was quite literally a blockbuster. The police were called in to control the crowd and make way for the block-long line of limousines as a bevy of celebrities descended on the venue. Andy Warhol, Cher, Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor, Truman Capote set the bar for entry into the newest nightclub in town.

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Janel Helmers

Update: 2024-07-12