Photographer Kevin Mazur Has Shot Everybody

Rock photographer stops by to promote the film "$ellebrity"

January 7, 2013
Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Rock photographer Kevin Mazur stopped by to promote his new paparazzi documentary “$ellebrity,” telling Howard that he got his start hustling tickets to rock shows at Nassau Coliseum. After cold-calling famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, Kevin’s photo hobby seemed more sustainable than scalping.

“She told me to call these photo agencies,” Kevin told Howard.

The first agency he approached sold one of his photos of Billy Joel for $150 to People magazine. Shortly after, PR legend Ken Sunshine hired Kevin to photograph one of Paul McCartney’s parties. Kevin soon found himself on staff at Rolling Stone, befriending rock royalty like Elton John and Sting. He went on to co-found the WireImage photo agency.

“We raised about a half a million dollars and we started the website and it just took off within six months,” he explained. The company’s $207 million sale to GettyImages was split between its 8 partners and their investors. Which means Kevin, as a partner, cleared over $10 million.