Ruby Mazur

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Ruby Mazur is an American artist known for creating thousands of album covers, especially in the 1970s. His work includes designs for The Rolling Stones, Elton John, B.B. King, and the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory soundtrack. He worked as an art director for Famous Music, ABC-Dunhill, and Paramount Records. Mazur was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island, showing drawing talent from a young age. He studied art in Philadelphia and has a nephew who is a musician.

Mazur created The Rolling Stones’ early cover art and many other album covers of the era. He also produced the Willy Wonka soundtrack cover and earned an Art Directors Award for a Curtis Mayfield cover while at ABC-Dunhill.

In a 2004 interview, Mazur explained that album-cover design became increasingly formulaic in the late 1980s, which pushed him toward painting. One noted painting—a model with a cigar—was bought by a Saudi prince before it dried. As compact discs and cassette tapes replaced vinyl, he shifted to surrealist works.

In 1995 Billboard called him a “world famous artist.” In 2023 a Hawaii wildfire destroyed his planned Lahaina gallery and about 100 paintings, representing half a century of work.

There is a long-running dispute about who designed the Rolling Stones’ Tongue and Mouth logo. Mazur claims credit, while others point to John Pasche or even Warhol. He had a feud with Mick Jagger over trademark rights to the Tumbling Dice artwork; Jagger paid him $10,000, but Mazur says he never received the trademark rights. He considered legal action in the 1990s, but it didn’t proceed. He has four children, including Monet, an actress and model. He has lived in Las Vegas, Gilbert (Arizona), and now Maui, Hawaii, and is a cancer survivor.