He snapped Madonna before she was even famous thanks to an introduction from Boy George.
And Tina Turner loves his photographs so much she’s got personal copies on top of her grand piano at home.
British photographer Dave Hogan has even achieved the seemingly impossible - making feuding siblings Liam and Noel Gallagher smile, side my side, for the camera...
Over the course of a 40-year career which has seen him travel the world with rock gods and Hollywood greats, Hogan has become almost as famous to the stars he photographs, as they are to the rest of us.
From Sir Paul McCartney to The Rolling Stones, and the Spice Girls to Beyonce, there are few showbiz legends he hasn’t captured on film – and who don’t ask for him when they want a special moment immortalised.
Now a snapshot of his twinkling portfolio is to go on show in a new exhibition, Hogie’s Heroes, at London’s The Trafalgar St James from Thursday.
A number of iconic prints have also been signed by the icons themselves, and will be available to buy via an online auction from February 18th, with all proceeds going to charity.
Here, he recalls the stories behind some of his most memorable shots.
MADONNA, 1985:
Hogie was in New York photographing Boy George, who gave him a tip-off about an up-and-coming pop star.
“He took me to this club and said ‘You need to photograph this woman. She’s going to be big.’
When Boy George said this you listened. Madonna had confidence, even at that age. You knew she was going to be a star.”
Boy George trusted him as long as he told him before he took a photograph. “Once I took a picture when he wasn’t wearing make-up and he hit me with a yellow frilly umbrella,” he laughs.
Hogie continues to work with Madonna to this day, even though she once ran over his foot in her car.
“She was returning from the Berlin Film Festival when she was with Sean Penn,” he says. “I didn’t sue.”
(PAUL MCCARTNEY, 1983:
Linda McCartney was launching a photographic exhibition the day Hogie caught Paul pulling his face.
He asked the singer for a quick portrait shot while he was there to support his wife.
He says: “Suddenly he just pulled that face. He was not the star that day. His wife was the star.”
Hogie remembers photographing Macca again after Linda passed away, at a promotional event for one of her vegetarian cookbooks.
“I noticed he was rolling something around in his hand,” he says. “It was Linda’s wedding ring. I just wanted to hug him. This guy was broken. I was witnessing this indescribably powerful moment.”
(OLIVER REED, 1985:
This candid shot of the actor was taken in 1985 in London nightclub Stringfellows.
Back then, security and PR teams weren’t obstacles, and Dave watched Reed get steadily more drunk all night as he precariously stacked his empties.
“He was drinking double Gin and Tonics and stacking them up,” he recalls.
“He was with his wife and drinking buddies and he was saluting me as he put each glass on the pile.”
(TINA TURNER and DAVID BOWIE, 1985:
Hogie's iconic shot holds huge sentimental value for Tina, who displays a print on top of her grand piano.
“The night it was taken, I had driven to Birmingham with Bowie’s PR,” says Hogie, who has travelled the world shooting Tina. “No one knew Bowie was going to walk out on stage when Tina was performing.”
The stars did a duet of the song Tonight.
“I was in the crowd and everyone’s hands shot up and I was shouting, ‘Get them down’. There is just so much affection in that picture, it means a lot to Tina.”
(MICHAEL JACKSON, 1990:
The singer had been to have his photograph taken beside his waxwork at Madame Tussauds in London when he jumped on the roof of his car and began to moonwalk. “The driver was shocked,” chuckles Hogie, who had already worked closely with Michael.
He would arrange for Hogie to snap him at Hamleys toy shop buying toys to send to children’s hospitals. “He was amazingly generous,” he says.
(THE SPICE GIRLS, 1995:
The Spice Girls were “over the top and bubbly” after gaining credibility when they got their Brit Award in 1995.
“After the picture was taken they went off and partied,” says Hogie. “I have partied with them around the world and they were crazy. At their height they could out-drink any male pop star and party harder. They had girl power! They were huge. Any photograph of them got in the paper.”
(KATE MOSS and RONNIE WOOD, 2001:
Stone Ron and supermodel Kate party together at a Destiny’s Child bash in London – a meeting Hogie describes as dynamite.
He has travelled all over shooting the Stones and still works with them today.
“Ronnie is one of the greatest party animals I have ever worked with,” he says. “It is amazing to see. The Stones are the masters of enjoyment.
“Kate Moss is super cool so you know the party has been a success if you have those two as your guests.”
(NOEL and LIAM GALLAGHER, 2003:
Hogie remembers the Oasis siblings were pulling their usual mean-and-moody look for the photographers before he called their bluff to make them smile.
The snap was taken backstage at a Teenage Cancer Trust fundraiser organised by The Who star Roger Daltrey.
“I didn’t need to photograph them, they weren’t the main people there that night,” he recalls.
“I said ‘I’m not going to photograph you until you smile – smile then!’ And they began to laugh their heads off. It is the only time I had seen them laugh together.”
(BEYONCE, 2011:
Beyonce flashes her ring finger as she headlines Glastonbury to a massive crowd – but Hogie says he could tell when he took her picture that there was more than just a performance high behind her obvious “glow”.
“She was waving her hands in this moment as she was singing the lyrics ‘put a ring on it’,” he recalls.
“There was definitely a certain glow about her in the image. Later we realised she must have known she was pregnant at that time. She was sharing the moment of celebration with the world.”
(ADELE, 2011:
It was a real Carry On shooting Adele just weeks before her memorable performance of Someone Like You at the Brits.
“No one really knew who she was before that Brits performance,” says Hogie. “This was taken right before her big break. She was laughing like Hattie Jacques in the Carry On films, putting her thumbs up, giggling. She didn’t have a hair or make-up artist, but she looked beautiful. Behind that Tottenham accent was an angel’s voice. She’s still a good egg, she is a true star.”
(Photographer Dave Hogan's exhibit Hogie’s Heroes will open at The Trafalgar St James hotel on February 1-February 28 and is free of charge.
The event has been organised by Concorde Media and Dave Hogan to raise funds for three key charities - Teenage Cancer Trust, Cancer Research UK and The Haven + London
Signed images from the exhibition will be auctioned online in collaboration with eBay for Charity, going live on February 18-28. Bid on eBay at www.hogiesheroes.uk
(