Old Photographs Of Rock Stars Smoking Their Cigarettes

Jonathan Stone for Art-Sheep

For the rock stars of the 1960s, like John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison, smoking was not simply a habit; it was part of the visual mythology of the era. A cigarette between the fingers could suggest fatigue, rebellion, boredom, elegance, danger, or the strange calm that comes after performing in front of thousands of people. Long before lifestyle details became carefully staged — from backstage rituals to modern experiences like a cigar roller for weddings — smoking belonged to the rough grammar of rock photography, appearing naturally in dressing rooms, hotel rooms, recording studios, and after-hours conversations.

There to capture many of these moments was Jim Marshall, one of the most important music photographers of the twentieth century. Marshall was not merely a man with a camera standing near famous people. He had the trust, access, and instinct required to photograph musicians when they were not performing for the public, or at least when they were performing a more private version of themselves. Through the 1960s and 1970s, he built relationships with singers, producers, band members, and entire scenes, which allowed him to move through backstage spaces with unusual intimacy.

His career placed him near some of the defining moments in modern music history. Marshall was the only photographer to capture The Beatles’ final concert at Candlestick Park in 1966, a historic event that closed one of the most intense chapters in pop culture. Three years later, he served as chief photographer at Woodstock in 1969, documenting not just a festival, but a generational image of youth, noise, mud, freedom, exhaustion, and collective myth-making. His photographs helped shape the way rock history remembers itself.

What makes these smoking portraits especially compelling is that they show icons in moments of pause. The stage lights are gone, or at least pushed to the edge. The bodies loosen. The faces turn inward. A cigarette becomes a small prop of thought, a line of smoke between the person and the legend being built around them. In Marshall’s hands, these images are not advertisements for glamour; they are documents of atmosphere. They show musicians relaxing, waiting, thinking, recovering, and occasionally hiding in plain sight.

Below, you can see photographs of some of the most famous and influential music stars of the 1960s and 1970s, relaxing and smoking through the lens of Jim Marshall. They belong to a period when rock culture still felt dangerous, unpolished, and physically present — when charisma was not yet filtered into content, and a quiet backstage moment could become as memorable as the concert itself.