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ROYAL CARIBBEAN'S MARINER OF THE SEAS

The 80s Cruise sets sail on the spectacular Mariner of the Seas, a Voyager Class ship perfectly suited to be transformed into The Ultimate 80s Party. As you step onto the fully chartered ship, you’ll be transported into a world of non-stop 80s action including nightly concerts in the Main Theater, tubular theme parties in the most righteous venues, plus more than a dozen bars and lounges to pre-party and wind down before and after action-packed days with your 80s partners-in-crime. During the day, there’s no shortage of options for those seeking action, with parties on the pool deck, The Perfect Storm Water Slide, FlowRider® surf simulator, Escape Room, and Rock-Climbing Wall. You can also take a chill pill and bask at the pool or recharge at the Vitality at Sea Spa. The ship is a destination of its own!

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The all-inclusive ultimate 80s party, hosted by original mtv vjs, also starring.

"The Ultimate 80s Party" sets sail from the hottest spot on the West Coast! For the first time ever, our 80s time machine will sail from L.A. with a stellar lineup of 80s acts and righteous fans of the greatest decade!

Dude, get stoked! You love the 80s — the music, the style, the hair — so join us for The Ultimate 80s Party! 7 days/nights of awesome concerts with some of the decade’s most iconic stars! It’s totally cool! You’ll be wiggin’ out with celebrity interaction, rad parties, dancing, karaoke, totally tubular events & activities PLUS beautiful beach destinations. GET IT ALL for one, ALL-INCLUSIVE PRICE! (Every guest receives Royal Caribbean’s Deluxe Beverage Package at no extra cost.)

Only on The 80s Cruise

All-inclusive pricing.

All Concerts, Shows, Events, and a Deluxe Drink Package are included.

Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas offers the finest combination of luxury accommodations, excellent service & first-class venues for our music performances, events and activities.

Ports of Call

Our party boat departs from Los Angeles and makes stops in 3 beautiful destinations along the Mexican Riviera.

Cruise Fares include all Concerts, Shows, Events and Included Dining. Cruise Fares vary solely due to type of Stateroom selected and your status as a Past Guest or not.

Celebrity Cruises’ Millennium Class ships offer the finest combination of luxury accommodations, excellent service & first-class venues for our music performances and shows.

Jazz News for You!

Jazz Cruises provides its fans with info about its cruise programs, plus the latest developments in the genre, new recordings, special events, and stories about musicians.

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14 Totally Tubular '80s Cruises To Book In 2023

In 2023, fans of the '80s will want to book these rad cruises that are packed with nostalgia—and some of the best parties and performances around.

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14 Totally Tubular '80s Theme Cruises To Book In 2023

Those who love to live it up on the high seas and have a nostalgic connection to everything borne of the 1980s will no doubt want to book one of these amazingly awesome themed cruises making a splash in 2023. Running the gamut from hair band nostalgia to R&B grooves and perennially pop culture cornerstones like Star Trek, Golden Girls, and Soul Train, these epic cruises offer vacationers a chance to channel the best of the '80s; whether it’s with day-glo Lycra or big hair blowouts; dancing in hammer pants or getting loose in leg warmers, these rockin’ parties on the high seas have it all for cruise lovers that are also super fans of the most (totally) tubular decade.

From the ultimate 80s rock cruise to classic TV show themes from that unbeatable era (and more), here are a handful of the best cruises in the world for people who want to sail the seas while reminiscing about the good ol' days.

UPDATE: 2023/04/08 18:51 EST BY OSCAR APONTE

For most people, the 80s were the best time for entertainment and American culture, when hairspray was the norm and there was no such thing as "too much color". For anyone wanting to experience the good ol' days again, or to understand what all the fuss is about, some themed 80s cruises bring the decade back to life in unforgettable trips across the seas. That's why this list has been updated to include more options and refresh the information for upcoming dates.

14 The 80s Cruise 2024

Travelers who absolutely love everything the raddest decade has to offer will undoubtedly want to set sail with this rockin’ all-inclusive cruise that’s been a perennial favorite for the last six years. Including seven days/nights of epic concerts from 80s icons like Soft Cell, Air Supply, and Debbie Gibson, this totally tubular jaunt also ups the vibes with appearances from fan faves (and original MTV VJs!) like Mark Goodman, rad rockin’ parties, events, and celebrity meet-ups—making it one of the top themed cruises of the 2020s.

• When: February 29 - March 7, 2024
• Where: Departs from Port Canaveral with stops in Aruba and Curaçao, including 4 days at sea
• Amenities On Board: Restaurants, Several bars, Solarium, Spa, Video Arcade, On Board Johnny Rockets, Escape Room, Running track

13 Monsters Of Rock Cruise

As the iconic 80s band AC/DC once famously said: “for those about to rock…we salute you”—and the Monsters of Rock Cruise is the perfect way to do it, with a blockbuster cruise consisting of five days and nights of rockin’ and rollin’ on the high seas.

Departing from Cape Canaveral, this exclusive event includes performances tailor-made for cruise fans and their inner guitar hero, awesome activities, and tons of fun—in addition to throwback faves like Winger, Queensryche, and Great White.

• When: April 29-May 4, 2023
• Where: Departs from Cape Canaveral, Florida with stops in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and the Haitian private islands of Labadee

RELATED: This 33-Day Luxe Cruise Itinerary Calls At 28 Exotic Ports

12 80s Themed West Coast Getaway

Four days, two ports, and endless chances for reliving one of the coolest decades ever? All of this (and more!) are on tap with Princess’ 80s Themed West Coast Getaway that departs LA with stops in sunny San Diego and super fun Ensenada, Mexico.

In a trip down memory lane on Princess’ iconic cruise ship aka the Love Boat , guests will experience the world-class experience the popular cruise line is known for—including 80s-themed fun and iconic stops at famed west coast landmarks at every stop.

• When: April 22-26, 2023
• Where: Departs Los Angeles with stops in San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico
• Amenities On Board: Restaurants, Several bars, Outdoor cinema, Sports Court, Wi-Fi, Art Gallery

11 Ultimate Disco Cruise

Disco may have died in the 70s: however, many of the era’s most iconic stars continued their reign into the awesome 80s; and this epic disco cruise is just one example of how multi-decade crossover results in some of the best entertainment around.

Departing Miami for a party on the high seas, this star-studded event is positively packed with some of the biggest crossover stars—think Billy Ocean, Kool & the Gang; KC and the Sunshine Band; C&C Music Factory, and more—for the ultimate cruise and groove adventure.

Unfortunately, there are no plans for the Ultimate Disco Cruise to set sail again in 2023, and they've announced a 2024 hiatus. But be sure to keep updated on their website for their return in 2025 with this amazing 80s cruise and their itinerary.

Past 80's cruises have taken place on board the Celebrity Summit Ship, which stands out for its wine cellar and lounging areas.

10 80s Themed Cruises From Oz Cruising

Love the land down under and the 1980s? Then Oz Cruising is the place to book an epic 80s adventure in 2023.

With a total of two, three-night cruise options (one departing Sydney and one departing Brisbane), vacationers can have their choice of disco-balled departures and hop onboard for a blast from the past—all accompanied by lavish amenities, luxe surroundings, and a totally tubular trip back in time on this surprisingly affordable cruise (which could even count itself among the most budget-friendly cruises in the world ).

• When: August 19, 2023, and September 9, 2023
• Where: Departures from Sydney and Brisbane
• Amenities On Board: Restaurants, Water Slides, Adult-Only area, Wine Cellar, Several bars, Outdoor cinema

RELATED: Waterslide Right Into The Ocean On This Luxury Cruise Ship

9 On The Blue Cruise - New Horizons 2024

Often lauded for amazing Bahamas cruises , this year, Norwegian Cruise Lines is pulling out all the stops with their famed Mexico-adventure/rock ’n’ roll paradise on the high seas.

A self-proclaimed voyage that “rivals any other Classic Rock Festival, land or sea”, this epic adventure showcases amazing performances from the likes of Alan Parsons, Starship, and The Zombies—in addition to accommodations on the newly refurbished Norwegian Pearl, complete with jammin’ Concert Stage where guests can party like its 1989.

• When: April 5 - 10, 2024
• Where: Departs from Miami, stops in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and Nassau, Bahamas
• Amenities On Board: Restaurants, Several bars, Professional photo studio, Sports court, Internet café, Video arcade

8 Star Trek: The Cruise VII

80s cruises are not just for those who want to bust a move or break out the big hair and/or legwarmers—some of the best cruises are all about the decade’s best entertainment, too.

And in 2024, Royal Caribbean invites cruise-goers to live long and prosper with one of the most iconic pop culture phenomenons of the decade on Star Trek The Cruise VII—seven days and nights of stellar events, performances, and parties, including an all-star lineup that’s tailor-made for the ultimate Trekkie voyage on the Pacific.

• When: February 22 - 29, 2024
• Where: Departs from Port Canaveral with stops in Aruba and Curaçao

7 The Beach Boys Good Vibrations Cruise

Few bands encapsulate the cool(er) side of the 1980s than the Beach Boys—but instead of heading to the famous Kokomo, this five-night, budget-friendly vacay takes a tubular trip from the US East Coast to paradisiacal locations in the Caribbean. And, if an appearance from the Beach Boys wasn’t enough, the onboard vibe gets even cooler with the likes of The Temptations, The Righteous Brothers, and more—totally rad!

There are no immediate plans for the Beach Boys to set sail again, but with the roaring success of the early 2023 cruise, there's bound to be another itinerary real soon, hopefully aboard the Norwegian Pearl again, so keep on the lookout for the cruise's website .

See how much it costs to go on a five-day cruise on average and budget for the trip in advance.

RELATED: How To Plan The Best Bahamas Cruise, During The Best Month To Do It

6 Soul Train Cruise (2024)

Everyone who’s anyone knows that the chill vibes, iconic fashion, and epic dance moves of Soul Train didn’t just make their mark in the 70s—but continued well into the 80s (and beyond!), too.

And now, cruise fans can have the classic R&B vacay of their dreams onboard the famously large and luxe New Amsterdam, complete with performances from Boyz II Men, The Temptations, and of course, the Original Soul Train Dancers. Indeed, this vessel is massive, perhaps even worthy of a place among the biggest cruise ships in the world .

• When: January 27-February 3, 2024
• Where: Departs from Ft. Lauderdale with stops in Tortola and St. Maarten
• Amenities On Board: Restaurants, Several bars, Fitness center, Spa, Virtual exhibitions, Casino

While the 2023 cruise is sold out, vacationers can beat the rush and book now for the 2024 cruise now.

5 Golden Girls Themed Cruise From Golden Fans At Sea

If you threw a party and invited everyone you knew, you might end up filling an entire cruise ship, like this Golden Girls-themed cruise aims to do in fall, 2024.

In a change from the usual Florida scenario, the 2024 edition of the cruise goes for the European experience, leaving from Spain and ending in Italy after an 8-day voyage. Entertainment includes the fab Golden Gays NYC Drag Queens, a caftan welcome dance party, a character costume party, trivia, and celebrity panels celebrating the iconic 80s hit.

• When: September 14 - 23, 2024
• Where: Departs from Barcelona, Spain with stops in France, Sardinia, and Italy to stop at Rome
• Amenities On Board: Restaurants, Several bars, Casino, Art gallery, Movie theater, Solarium, Spa

The 2024 rendition of the Golden Girls Cruise will set sail aboard the Celebrity Ascent Ship.

4 Flower Power Cruise

Love, good music, and even better vibes, the Flower Power Cruise brings the Love Generation back for an unforgettable 7-day cruise along the Caribbean Sea.

With stellar performances of 70s and 80s renowned artists and groups like The Grass Roots, The Rascals, and Randy Bachman, as well as being hosted by legendary Peter Asher. So make love, not war and enjoy the sun in this groovy trip that's sure to get passengers of all ages back to when Jimmy Carter was president and bell-bottom pants were in.

• When: March 21 - 28, 2024
• Where: Departs from Miami, Florida with stops along San Juan, Puerto Rico and St Croix, Virgin Islands
• Amenities On Board: Restaurants, Several bars, Wine Cellar, Solarium, Spa, Sports court, Art gallery, Casino

Related: Did You Even Eat In The 80s If These Foods Weren't On The Table?

3 Chris Jericho's Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager At Sea

Wrestlemania might already be over, but Chris Jericho takes wrestling to a new level in his Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea cruise. Bringing with him the talent of days past, as well as new blood from AEW's current roster, the ship's deck becomes a stage for exciting matches to take place along the 4-day trip, with a full-day stop at Cozumel to wind down after the excitement of the show.

Besides fighters, Chris also brings artists and entertainers to perform during each fight, so get ready to headbang, laugh, and awe at this excitement-packed trip.

• When: January 26 - 30, 2024
• Where: Departs from Miami, Florida with a stop at Cozumel, Mexico

2 KISS Kruise

Put on some face paint and get the spiked jackets out of the closet, KISS hops back on stage in an unforgettable trip to rock and roll all nite, and party every day. The KISS Kruise has been able to blow away people's minds in each one of its iterations. The 2022 edition counted with performances from the original KISS lineup, as well as appearances from legendary bands like Black Label Society, All Hands On Deck, and Riot.

Even though there won't be a 2023 version of the cruise, the group will update their itinerary for setting sail again in 2024 and bringing fans one of the best 80s rock cruises ever.

1 NKOTB Cruise 2023

Quite possibly every teenage girl's heartthrobs in the 80s, the New Kids On The Block set sail for The Bahamas in a cruise experience that brings their best hits back to the stage with nonstop concerts each day, as well as a chance to get to know the guys better, game nights hosted by the five, and a massive party at Half Moon Cay for the biggest Block Party ever.

• When: October 12 - 16, 2023
• Where: Departs from Miami, Florida with a stop at Half Moon Cay, The Bahamas
• Amenities On Board: Restaurants, Several bars, Water Slides, Mini golf, Adult-only area, Art gallery, Video Arcade, Casino

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80's Themed Cruise

What's included.

Note: Charges/supplements apply for specialty dining, drinks, and select activities, entertainment, and meals.

AI Created An '80s Justice League Movie Trailer & Cast That Are Absolutely Perfect

What if "Justice League" came out in the '80s? After decades of anticipation, audiences finally saw DC's flagship team on the silver screen in 2017. Unfortunately, "Justice League" was a critical and commercial failure. In 2021, Warner Bros. released the alternate cut, "Zack Snyder's Justice League," a move they reportedly regretted . While that version of the film was a critical success, it was decided that the DC Extended Universe wasn't viable, and James Gunn was brought in to reboot the entire franchise. With no new Justice League-centric project in sight, YouTuber user  stryder HD has created a fascinating concept straight from the '80s to tide fans over. 

In the artificial intelligence-generated fan trailer, stryder HD imagines what "Justice League" would look like if it premiered in the '80s, and the results are pretty much perfect. The video casts Harrison Ford as Batman, replacing Ben Affleck. Ford is a brilliant choice for the Caped Crusader, as he has the suave charm to play Bruce Wayne and the physical chops to take on such a demanding role. Stepping into the Man of Steel's shoes is John Travolta, who spent the '80s delivering hits like "Blow Out" and "Look Who's Talking." Closing out the Trinity is Mia Sara as Wonder Woman, who fans might remember from classics like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and the Tom Cruise-starring "Legend." 

The '80s Justice League cast is stacked

The fan trailer is very detailed, teasing key locations like Metropolis, the Batcave, and Themyscira. Unfortunately, it doesn't feature any plot points and it's unclear if this concept would serve as a Justice League origin story or if the team is already operating. Regardless, it's a breathtaking "what if" scenario that has us thinking how great this flick would be. For example, Tom Cruise — Hollywood's last great action star — is seen as the Flash, which is an amazing choice.

An interesting component of this fan trailer is how it recasts former DC-supporting players into iconic superheroes. Kevin Costner, who plays Jonathan Kent in "Man of Steel," is seen as the Green Arrow. Similarly, Diane Lane, who stars as Martha Kent in the DCEU, is aptly cast as Supergirl. Morgan Freeman, famous for appearing as Lucius Fox in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, gets the chance to play Martian Manhunter in what would be a meaty role. 

The villains are also getting some love in this "Justice League" AI trailer, as fan-favorite Willem Dafoe is cast as the Clown Prince of Crime. The actor has long been fan cast as the villain, with Dafoe pitching himself to star in "Joker 2."   Another casting that can't be ignored is the late Christopher Lee taking on the mantle of General Zod, which would arguably be the best performance in this hypothetical flick. 

A gene long thought to just raise the risk for…

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A gene long thought to just raise the risk for alzheimer’s may cause some cases.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, researchers have identified a genetic form of late-in-life Alzheimer’s disease — in people who inherit two copies of a worrisome gene.

Scientists have long known a gene called APOE4 is one of many things that can increase people’s risk for Alzheimer’s, including simply getting older. The vast majority of Alzheimer’s cases occur after age 65. But research published Monday suggests that for people who carry not one but two copies of the gene, it’s more than a risk factor, it’s an underlying cause of the mind-robbing disease.

The findings mark a distinction with “profound implications,” said Dr. Juan Fortea, who led the study the Sant Pau Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain.

Among them: Symptoms can begin seven to 10 years sooner than in other older adults who develop Alzheimer’s.

An estimated 15% of Alzheimer’s patients carry two copies of APOE4, meaning those cases “can be tracked back to a cause and the cause is in the genes,” Fortea said. Until now, genetic forms of Alzheimer’s were thought to be only types that strike at much younger ages and account for less than 1% of all cases.

Scientists say the research makes it critical to develop treatments that target the APOE4 gene. Some doctors won’t offer the only drug that has been shown to modestly slow the disease, Leqembi, to people with the gene pair because they’re especially prone to a dangerous side effect, said Dr. Reisa Sperling, a study coauthor at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Sperling hunts ways to prevent or at least delay Alzheimer’s and “this data for me says wow, what an important group to be able to go after before they become symptomatic.”

But the news doesn’t mean people should race for a gene test. “It’s important not to scare everyone who has a family history” of Alzheimer’s because this gene duo isn’t behind most cases, she told The Associated Press.

HOW DO GENETICS AFFECT ALZHEIMER’S?

More than 6 million Americans, and millions more worldwide, have Alzheimer’s. A handful of genes are known to cause rare “early-onset” forms, mutations passed through families that trigger symptoms unusually young, by age 50. Some cases also are linked to Down syndrome.

But Alzheimer’s most commonly strikes after 65, especially in the late 70s to 80s, and the APOE gene – which also affects how the body handles fats — was long known to play some role. There are three main varieties. Most people carry the APOE3 variant that appears to neither increase nor decrease Alzheimer’s risk. Some carry APOE2, which provides some protection against Alzheimer’s.

APOE4 has long been labeled the biggest genetic risk factor for late-in-life Alzheimer’s, with two copies risker than one. About 2% of the global population is estimated to have inherited a copy from each parent.

RESEARCH POINTS TO A CAUSE FOR A SUBSET OF ALZHEIMER’S

To better understand the gene’s role, Fortea’s team used data from 3,297 brains donated for research and from over 10,000 people in U.S. and European Alzheimer’s studies. They examined symptoms and early hallmarks of Alzheimer’s such as sticky amyloid in the brain.

People with two APOE4 copies were accumulating more amyloid at age 55 than those with just one copy or the “neutral” APOE3 gene variety, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine. By age 65, brain scans showed significant plaque buildup in nearly three-quarters of those double carriers – who also were more likely to have initial Alzheimer’s symptoms around that age rather than in the 70s or 80s.

Fortea said the disease’s underlying biology was remarkably similar to young inherited types.

It appears more like “a familial form of Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Eliezer Masliah of the National Institute on Aging. “It is not just a risk factor.”

Importantly, not everyone with two APOE4 genes develops Alzheimer’s symptoms and researchers need to learn why, Sperling cautioned.

“It’s not quite destiny,” she said.

HOW THE NEW FINDINGS MAY AFFECT ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH AND TREATMENT

The drug Leqembi works by clearing away some sticky amyloid but Sperling said it’s not clear if carriers of two APOE4 genes benefit because they have such a high risk of a side effect from the drug – dangerous brain swelling and bleeding. One research question is whether they’d do better starting such drugs sooner than other people.

Masliah said other research aims to develop gene therapy or drugs to specifically target APOE4. He said it’s also crucial to understand APOE4’s effects in diverse populations since it’s been studied mostly in white people of European ancestry.

As for gene tests, for now they’re typically used only to evaluate if someone’s a candidate for Leqembi or for people enrolling in Alzheimer’s research – especially studies of possible ways to prevent the disease. Sperling said the people most likely to carry two APOE4 genes had parents who both got Alzheimer’s relatively early, in their 60s rather than 80s.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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At Frieze, Photographer of Gay Life Seeks ‘a Place in the Sunshine’

Stanley Stellar has documented gay New York, on the streets and in his studio, for decades. Now he steps onto his biggest stage.

By Erik Piepenburg

Stanley Stellar was on Canal Street one Sunday morning in 1976 when a young man with a killer body passed by. Like many New York street photographers, Stellar is curious, bordering on nosy, and he can, when necessary, be a whiz at masking flirtation as flattery to put straight guys at ease.

Stellar convinced the man to lift his T-shirt for a photo, and in return Stellar got an eyeful of chest and colorful bird tattoos, a picture Stellar later named “I Got Birds Too.”

The man’s shirt went back on and a lightbulb went off.

“I walked away from this and went, oh, this is who I am,’” Stellar, 79, said in a recent interview at his TriBeCa apartment.

That chance encounter was an awakening that helped fuel Stellar’s decades-long drive to take pictures of unapologetic, maverick gayness as much as he can fit into a day. He’s still at it, as his nearly 40,000 Instagram followers can testify.

To be clear, Stellar is gay . Spare him “queer.”

“I don’t like how gay has been marginalized and dismissed,” he said. “At this point in my life, I’m not going to go, Oh yeah, I’ve always been a queer artist.’ No.”

From May 1-5, Stellar will step onto possibly his biggest stage when Kapp Kapp , the queer-centered TriBeCa gallery run by the twin brothers Sam and Daniel Kapp, shows his work at Frieze New York , the annual international art fair that returns to the Shed at Hudson Yards.

On view will be 15 of Stellar’s “Piers” photographs : assertive portraits and lazy-day snapshots of the mostly gay men who claimed the decrepit West Side piers as social and sexual turf in the 1970s and ’80s. Many photographs will be shown in color for the first time; “Stanley Stellar: The Piers,” a related book of photos, has been reprinted timed to the fair.

Other, more acclaimed artists made art at, and out of, the piers: David Wojnarowicz , Peter Hujar , Keith Haring , Gordon Matta-Clark . The Kapp brothers hope Frieze will do for Stellar what the Bronx Museum did in 2019 with its career-defining retrospective of Alvin Baltrop, whose photographs of the piers had been largely unheralded.

“Stanley doesn’t fit really cleanly into the narrative of what people want a New York City gay photographer to be,” said Sam Kapp, who joined his brother on video for an interview. “That’s where we’ve seen our position from the start: how do we contextualize this legend as he deserves to be?”

Among Stellar’s fans is the writer and filmmaker Leo Herrera , whose work explores the AIDS generation. He said he admired the photographer’s “overall love and appreciation — a shameless appreciation — of gay male beauty and gay sexuality during a time when we are facing the same censorship of the ’70s and the stigma of the ’80s, just on different platforms.”

As grateful as Stellar is to be at Frieze, behind his mile-a-minute monologues, he’s got a question: What took so long?

“I know that everyone wants to focus on the piers, the piers, the piers,” he said. “I’m just too big to focus only on the piers.”

Stellar was dressed in a light blue shirt and cargo shorts as he roamed the rent-stabilized apartment where he has lived since 1974 with Tom Miller, a retired linguist and his partner of 50 years. The home doubles as a studio.

Stellar grew up with his parents and brother in a ground floor apartment at Cortelyou Road off Flatbush Avenue, “the most bourgeois section of Brooklyn” at the time, he said. He caught the photography bug at 10 when an uncle gave him a viewfinder camera.

Stellar said he was never in the closet because in his artistic family being “out” wasn’t a dirty secret. His father had a custom upholstery, slip cover and drapery shop in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and his mother was “a frustrated painter,” as Stellar called her, who one afternoon brought a tray of tea and cookies to her son’s boy crush.

Stellar studied graphic design at Parsons and earned a living working for Art Direction magazine. But as a gay commercial photographer, he struggled to get well-paying work, although he has had gallery representation over the years.

He freelanced for gay publications and newsweeklies, filling entire filing cabinets and binders with contact sheets of everything from Wigstock to a model, Tommy.

In 2019, when the Kapp brothers gave him a solo exhibition at their former gallery in Philadelphia, he started to see financial gain. (His photographs sell for $4,000 to $10,000.)

He now feels financially stable for the first time.

Like Hujar, a good friend, Stellar was a habitué at the piers, but says he was there to cruise and have sex as much as to take pictures in the plein-air studio.

“We never had a place in the sunshine, a place in the light — there was no place for us to see each other,” he said. “And then there was.”

In his photographs of young gay men on the cusp of a plague, Stellar is a reminder that many gay men of his generation lived to make art, and their work, then as now, is a testament to a time, and a community. Last summer, GAYLETTER , a queer art magazine founded by Tom Jackson and Abi Benitez, ran on the cover a Stellar photo of a man posing inside a crumbling room at the piers, his backside exposed.

Jackson said he considers Stellar an ethnographer for a generation of gay men too young to remember AIDS.

“I don’t think he realized he was creating obituaries,” Jackson said.

Herrera, the filmmaker, put it a different way: “A lot of people who had AIDS were photographed by him while they were still beautiful.”

Stellar is proud of his nonexplicit work; he said he’s photographed almost every New York City Pride march since the first one in 1970. But he knows his piers photos may most define him.

“I never asked you what you thought of the piers,” Stellar asked Miller.

“I never asked you either, because we know,” Miller said, laughing.

“I did it all for us,” Stellar replied, softly. “I photographed us for us.”

Art and Museums in New York City

A guide to the shows, exhibitions and artists shaping the city’s cultural landscape..

The Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj  began drawing as a child in the Balkans during a violent decade. His world of childhood innocence and adult experience comes to the r oof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art .

As his bullet-riddled panels go up at Gagosian, Maurizio Cattelan, in a rare in-person interview, tells why he turned his sardonic gaze on a violence-filled world .

In his biggest exhibit since a 2013 retrospective at the Guggenheim, Christopher Wool has created his own show in an uninhabited office in Manhattan’s Financial District .

Looking for more art in the city? Here are the gallery shows not to miss in May .

Small businesses at growing risk of collapse as big businesses become more financially secure

Australians are being told to brace for a tidal wave of businesses going bust, and the job losses that may come with that, with a leading credit agency reporting a 20 per cent surge in small firms at risk of not paying their bills.

Fifty-eight-year-old April Brodie runs a beauty salon in a shopping complex in Melbourne.

She's losing customers because they're prioritising other types of spending.

"People are struggling and there's definitely a difference in people's spending habits," she says.

"You know when people would come [every] four weeks, maybe they will come eight weeks now, or they'll stretch things out to three months.

"People will often say to you, 'I just can't afford it, you know we've just got extra bills, I can't afford it.'

"Whereas years ago, pre-pandemic, you would never hear people say that."

She says suppliers to small businesses are now getting nervous about being paid, and as a result, they're setting stricter rules.

"There's a lot [who have] gone from 60-day accounts or 30-day accounts to where you have to pay up-front.

"As someone who's been in the industry a long time, I've never experienced that before but now it's a lot of pay up-front."

20 per cent rise in small business at risk of failure

Data from illion shows suppliers are right to be nervous.

The credit risk firm monitors how well businesses are coping with their bills.

illion's Commercial Risk Barometer tracks the risk of Australian businesses being unable to trade within the next 12 months with money owing and forced into closure – this includes businesses entering liquidation and/or being involuntarily deregistered.

In other words, it looks at how long businesses are taking to pay their invoices, to get an idea of how close they are to collapse.

The longer they take to pay, the more they're struggling.

Its latest report shows hundreds of thousands of businesses are showing an elevated risk of failure.

For example, food services businesses are now paying invoices 18 days late on average, construction firms and retail businesses 14 days late, and the transport sector 12 days late.

"So many of those businesses where they are at the whim of consumers, discretionary spending, times are tough at the moment," illion's head of modelling Barrett Hasseldine said.

"Costs are high and consumers are really thinking twice about whether or not they do need to make discretionary spends.

"And so it's those types of businesses which are really feeling the brunt of it."

illion holds data on more than 2.5 million "active commercial entities" in Australia and says its data points to a spike in the number of businesses facing collapse.

"And just the sheer portion of businesses that were rated as 'severe risk of failure' in the coming year actually has jumped about 80 per cent in the past year," warns Mr Hasseldine.

"I was surprised that had shot up so markedly."

The smaller the business, the more at risk it is of failure.

For small businesses with a turnover of up to $10 million, for example, the risk of failure rose by 20 per cent in the year to the end of March 2024.

Industries most at risk of failure include food services -- restaurants, bars, cafes and pubs — as well as construction and transport businesses.

"Because, for example, we have seen that spend with bakeries and butchers and other smaller food services businesses has really reduced over the last year," observes Mr Hasseldine.

He adds that much of that demand has gone directly to larger companies with more pricing power.

"Smaller businesses are at significant risk of 'going to the wall' while larger businesses are benefiting from a possible change in consumer spending habits during these harder economic conditions," he notes in the report.

"Spending in supermarkets, which has been up 5 per cent, has been to the detriment of butchers, down one 1 per cent, and greengrocers, down 2.5 per cent.

"Spending with department stores that has been broadly stable has been at odds with spending in retail clothing stores, down eight 8 per cent."

It's little surprise then that the odds of big businesses, those with turnover above $250 million a year, going bust has fallen 20 per cent at the same time as the financial risks for small and medium firms have surged.

Credit firm illion says there are no clear signs that the 'at risk' industries are likely to experience a turnaround in their fortunes anytime soon.

'Fragile economy', rising costs

The CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA), Luke Achterstraat, says it's an ugly combination of lower revenue and rising costs for many of his members.

"Look, it's a pretty fragile economy at the moment for small businesses," he observes.

"There's a lot of operating challenges we're facing.

"Energy, rent, insurance, the cost of borrowing, the spectre of potentially another interest rate rise.

"So there's a lot of uncertainty at the moment.

"There's relatively strong demand coming through in some sectors but when that cost of doing business has increased exponentially, that makes it really difficult to trade."

NAB's chief economist Alan Oster says he's monitoring the plight of small businesses closely.

"It's a worry for us because normally small business leads into the broader economy and that's certainly what we've seen in the '70s, '80s and '90s recessions.

"So we're watching that.

"But it does seem to us that when we say [to small business], 'What's your big concern?', it's, 'I can't get labour, or skills, I'm worried about government changes, and I'm worried about cashflow.'

"What it means, I think, is that as the small industries fall over, the big industries might start to come down as well."

For now though, Mr Oster says big business is doing just fine.

In fact, the outlooks for the big supermarkets, financial and professional services sectors are all looking up.

And beauty business owner April Brodie notes her other high-end service for wealthier clients is performing well.

"Yes, the luxury end is doing incredibly well. I have a huge wait list," she says.

"I have a six month wait list to get in to see me, but I've worked really hard on that and it was definitely a hole in the market and I worked really hard during lockdown to build that business out."

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