Horns Up For The Art

Back before A.I. killed artistic creativity, bands and marketing teams sketched out ideas for covers. The “perfect” album cover was especially important in the 70s and 80s, because cool art usually meant more sales.

One of the best album covers of all time is for Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here.

The burning stuntman on the cover is Ronnie Rondell, Jr. The veteran stuntman died earlier this month, on August 12th. He was 88.

I remember reading the story of the cover art several years ago. The cover was shot on the Warner Bros., lot in Burbank, Calif. Of course, Rondell was wearing fire retardant clothing beneath the suit and under a wig, yet he was still singed in the process. The photographer got 15 shots of the flaming man before Rondell said he was done.

Rondell was in a lot of famous movies including Speed, The Karate Kid, Thelma & Louise, The Crow, Last Action Hero among many more. Even with all those credits to his name, the Pink Floyd cover seems to be his most famous work.