Tim Curry on set of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' - copyright Mick Rock
When Tim Curry strutted onto the big screen in a black garter belt, shimmering corset top, spiked stilettos and ruby red lipstick, it was a mindset-shifting moment in pop culture. Even those who initially disregarded the low-budget musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show as trash, had to admit the imagery in it was pretty unforgettable. Its catchy songs and sexy stylings seemed destined to be iconic from the start.
Fifty years after its release, the film’s celebration of individuality, sexual freedom and freak-dom resonates more than ever. In celebration of the anniversary, Los Angeles definitely paid homage in significant ways last year, from panels and Q&A’s with stars (at The Roxy, The Academy Museum and The Grammy Museum) to special screenings, the most memorable of which brought a real time warp to Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s Cinespia and a surprise visit from a wheelchair bound but still bitingly droll Curry and alongside co-star Barry Bostwick aka “Brad,” plus the famed group, Sins O’ the Flesh (who got their start enacting the film at The Nuart theater in L.A.) doing choreo in front of the giant outdoor screen.
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
A marvelous display took place in December via the lens of legendary rock n’ roll photographer Mick Rock, who released a Rocky Horror book this year documenting scenes from the set during the making of the 1975 cult classic. Rock, best known for his vibrant work with David Bowie, as well as various album covers for Iggy Pop, Joan Jett and Queen, passed away in 2021, but as his wife Pati Rock told us (exclusively), he left behind an endless treasure trove of images, both digital and on film. The Rocky book is just the first of what she says will be many more upcoming tomes highlighting the decadent music figures and cultural game changers he shot like only he could.
Using the Rock book as inspiration, curator Kii Arens, best known for the LA LA Land Gallery in Hollywood, welcomed fans to his new DTLA art space, FAB LA, with a mind-flipping thematic soiree featuring Picture Show-inspired art by a who’s who of L.A. luminaries. RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Alaska Thunderfuck (who did a sultry sync on, what else?— “Sweet Transvestite”) and DJs Sean Patrick (Simon Says) and Chris Holmes (Paul McCartney’s personal touring deejay) provided the entertainment.
Designer Michael Schmidt (known for making shiny luxe looks for the biggest pop divas in the world, including Madonna, Cher, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Rihanna) made Ms. Alaska’s Curry-covered frock, perfect for her Frank-n-Furter frolic through the beautiful DTLA building. We should note that beyond dress-up, Alaska had a triumphant year with her stage show Drag The Musical making a splash off-Broadway in NYC and that she's the co-host of Hot Goss, one of our favorite podcasts of the year on the Moguls of Media (MOM) network, co-created with fellow drag doll Willam Belli.
Fab fashion was called for at this fete, and Plastic God (known for his collectable digital art portraits of music stars, and recent collab with Hello Kitty, melding the Sanrio cat with legends like Boy George, Eazy E and Axl Rose); former MTV VJ Jesse Camp (now sporting a mustache!); Johnny Stuntz (hair stylist for Mariah Carey and Trent Reznor); makeup artist Darian Darling, pretty in Barbie pink; and Sugarpill Cosmetics' Amy Doan and partner Abhora Rules from The Boulet Brothers' Dragula: Titans 2; all delivered. Sequins, corsets and lip prints were just some of the Rocky references seen in the crowd.
DATE WITH THE NIGHT
The plaster cast of a naked Susan Sarandon from the movie was the hit of the event. Nick Launay, a revered music producer whose worked with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Public Image Ltd, Gang of Four, Killing Joke and Amyl and the Sniffers, to name a few, is the owner of the piece and the tale of how he came to acquire the famed “Janet” statue is pretty wild.
"We still had no idea what the statue was," Launay told us, revealing that a friend identified the plaster mold of Sarandon several years after they found it in an old warehouse. It lived at his dad's place but, "eventually I decided “Janet” needed to be in Hollywood where I currently live," he explained. "I had it shipped, and then restored to its original beauty by a renowned art museum specialist."
Launay who is currently working with Danny Elfman, also told us he's open to selling the priceless piece (serious offers only). Contact him via his Instagram if you're interested.
(In a related note, a little birdie told us that the former Oingo Boingo frontman will be popping up on SNL with A$AP Rocky, whom he plays drums for on the rockin' new release, Don't Be Dumb and the first single, "Punk Rocky," this Saturday.
THERE'S A STARMAN...
From his glitzy persona to his profoundly poetic lyrics, creatives in Los Angeles share a kinship with David Bowie that lives on to this day. Ten years after his death, tribute events are flooded stages big and small across the country in January. On Jan. 10., the date of his passing a decade later, several celebrations took place in L.A. that conjured the icon’s spirit in the most evocative ways possible. Angelenos have a special kind of David Bowie devotion. The music industry is based in L.A. after all, and there are few artists who don’t count the chameleon-like performer as an influence, especially in rock n’ roll.
Though Bowie once called L.A. his “favorite museum” –and he didn’t mean it as a compliment– it did influence him in many ways. It’s where he recorded most of 1976’s game-changing Station to Station and found a confidante in Rolling Stone writer and future filmmaker Cameron Crowe following an into from Ron Wood.
Still, his overall disdain for the city is well-documented. Crowe’s 2025 memoir, The Uncool, highlights the period of creative struggle and substance abuse before Bowie left for Berlin and entered his "Thin White Duke" phase, and as the book outlines with earnest dismay, he did not enjoy reflecting on his “lost year in L.A.” as its known, nor Crowe’s RS’s cover story from that time.
That said, things were different when Bowie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Feb. 12, 1992. With wife Iman by his side, he was radiant and healthy, clearly appreciative of being recognized by the entertainment world, which always fascinated him and beckoned him to the big screen. He’d go on to make appearances in both 1996’s Basquiat and 2001’s Zoolander in the years that followed.
We joined dozens of dedicated fans who gathered at the star – in front of the former home of the now-shuttered Knitting Factory L.A. music club, now an LA Fitness facility– to honor their favorite musician on the 10th anniversary of his death. To them, he was more than a music maker. He was a diety who encouraged fans to make art and be art and to express themselves "in beautiful ways," one of them said. They brought flowers, lit candles, and played his songs, culminating in a ritualistic circle around the star as “Black Star” played from a boombox. They all said they felt him there at that moment, and so did we.
Of course, Mick Rock famously captured Bowie, highlighting his magical Ziggy Stardust persona in the book, Mick Rock. The Rise of David Bowie. 1972–1973. His Rocky Horror work was a year later, in '74, and very much in the same spirit, highlighting the outlandish expression, androgyny and musical magic that still inspires so many to this day.
If you're in L.A., visit David Bowie's star in Hollywood and check out upcoming Bowie events this week including a Saturday evening tribute show from Music Connection-profiled artist Julian Shah-Tayler, a DJ-driven bar night next week, and the Celebrating Bowie tour at the end of the month, featuring members of Devo, Fishbone and Eagles of Death Metal in February.
The Mick Rock 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' exhibit closes on Sunday, Jan. 18, but the book is available here. More info on the artshow here.
