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Kenny Rogers’ "Your Friends and Mine" Book Photoshoots

Date range assessed by the fact that the session occurred shortly after the February 26, 1986 meeting with Kenny Rogers about the book.

Kenny Rogers, Discovery Watch (mirror)

I told Michael during our first session that I was thinking about doing a book of portraits and calling it Your Friends And Mine. I had heard about his chimpanzee, Bubbles, and we did a shot with the chimp. Later on, Michael and I did another session alone, at his request. That was the start. Michael Jackson’s agreeing to be part of the book was, in fact, the jumping off point for the whole project. Michael Jackson is unique, both as an individual and as a performer. Yet, while I’d been around him many times, I never honestly felt I knew him until we spent a day together in the photography studio... I told him of my ideas for this book and asked him to bring his chimp, Bubbles. There were maybe twenty-five people in the studio that day, and the chimp was the center of attention. That meant the focus was off Michael, and I think the relative anonymity gave him a chance to relax. And Bubbles was so human it was almost frightening. He would take Christopher by the hand, walk over to the refrigerator, open it, take out a banana, and hand it to him. Christopher was amazed – we all were. The session was the first time I’d had the chance to be one on one with Michael. It means a lot to me to be able to say that not only do I love his music, but I also like him very much as a person and consider him a friend.

“Larry King Live” (June 25, 2009) (archived)

I did a book called "Your Friends and Mine." It's a photography book. And I called him, I said, Michael, I promise you you'll only be here 15 minutes. He said, I'm coming, and I'm bringing Bubbles with me. And he was there for eight hours. He stayed there and wanted to chat and talk. And we took pictures.

I think I took the first picture of him with his head off. Because he said, I want to see what this looks like. So -- it's just -- he was just such a special guy. You know? And you don't meet guys who have that kind of success that really are able to communicate at a different level. And that's a success I would not wish on anybody.