Pink Floyd

Rock album covers have often turned a single image into a symbol capable of crossing generations. Nobody knew this better than Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, founders of the Hipgnosis collective, who created some of the most memorable covers of the era: from Pink Floyd's “The Dark Side Of The Moon” to Led Zeppelin's “Houses Of The Holy” and “Presence”, all the way to work for Genesis, Yes, Black Sabbath, Ac/Dc and many others.
Among their most celebrated creations remains the cover of “Wish You Were Here”, Pink Floyd's ninth album, released on September 12, 1975, which this year marks half a century since its release. It's a record shaped by absence, nostalgia and the memory of the band's original leader, Syd Barrett, by then definitively estranged from the group, but also by criticism of the economic logic dominating the music industry, voiced in harsh, biting tracks like “Welcome To The Machine” and “Have A Cigar”.

The idea behind the image

Thorgerson had followed Pink Floyd on tour in 1974 and had discussed the theme of absence with them at length. That's also where the idea came from to hide the album inside a black wrapper, as if to make even the cover itself absent: a choice partly inspired by the packaging of Roxy Music's “Country Life”, sold in an opaque green cellophane sleeve. The American label wasn't thrilled about it, but that concealment became an integral part of the project.
The central image, meanwhile, grew out of the metaphor of the handshake: an outwardly cordial gesture, but one often associated with false, self-interested business dealings. On the vinyl's inner label the hands became mechanical; on the cover, Hipgnosis wanted to bring that symbolism into the real world, showing two businessmen shaking hands while one of them catches fire. It was also a nod to the fear of “getting burned”, an expression common among musicians at the time when talking about royalties and business deals.

The photograph was shot at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California, with two stuntmen dressed as businessmen: Danny Rogers and Ronnie Rondell Jr. It was Rondell who was set alight, protected by a fireproof suit worn under his clothes, doused in flammable gel and gasoline. The flames, then, were entirely real, and so was the danger. The stunt was repeated fifteen times: Rondell could only stay engulfed in flames for a few seconds before the crew stepped in with extinguishers and blankets.
On the fifteenth attempt the wind suddenly changed direction and blew the flames toward the stuntman's face, burning off an eyebrow and part of his moustache. “I'd say that's enough, I'm done for today!” Rondell remarked. The chosen image for the cover was then flipped, placing the burning man on the left, and it went on to become one of the most powerful and recognizable images in rock history.

The legacy of a cover

Ronnie Rondell Jr. died a year ago, at 88, in a retirement home in Osage Beach, Missouri. Born in Hollywood in 1937 into a family with ties to the film industry, he began working on sets and as a stuntman at a very young age, before building a long career as a stand-in and stunt coordinator. His credits include, among others, “Lethal Weapon”, “Thelma & Louise”, “Predator 2”, “They Live”, “Twister”, “Batman & Robin” and “The Matrix Reloaded”, as well as numerous TV series.
But above all, he leaves behind an image that has entered the visual lexicon of popular music. It's no coincidence that, even today, that handshake between two businessmen continues to be reused and reinterpreted, even in political memes: further proof of just how intact the symbolic power of the “Wish You Were Here” cover remains.

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29/08/2026