Go on tour with legendary rock photographer Bob Gruen, who is one of the most well known and respected photographers in Rock and Roll.

HELLO Japan! I am very happy to have been asked to make a regular feature column for the Tokyo Journal! I thought I would start with a few pictures that show where my career began.

Growing up in the 1950s, I heard rock and roll when it was first played on the radio and I was an immediate fan. After High School in the late sixties, I was living with a rock band and started my career by taking pictures of them. When they were discovered, their record company used my photos and hired me to photograph more groups.

Soon I was working for many record companies and in 1972 I was included in ‘The Photography of Rock’, the first book of rock music photos. The writer, who interviewed me for the book, liked my photos and the following week brought me to his magazine interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. John & Yoko liked the photos I took and used one in the package for their next record album. And I’ve been very busy ever since.

For this first column I have chosen some of my photos from the book - Ike & Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Alice Cooper, and Elton John. (In future columns I’ll show photos of some of my favorite bands).

This story appeared in Issue 270 of the Tokyo Journal.

To order Issue 270, click here.