Denis O’Regan: The rock photographer with Cork roots on Bowie and Queen tours

When Denis O'Regan's parents left Doneraile in the 1950s, they'd never have thought that their son would end up touring the world with some of the biggest music acts around 

Denis O'Regan, photographer, and Freddie Mercury of Queen during one of the band's tours.  (Picture copyright Denis O'Regan)

Watching David Bowie perform as Ziggy Stardust at the Hammersmith Odeon in July 1973, Denis O’Regan could never have imagined that he would one day work as his idol’s official photographer.

“I’d already seen Led Zeppelin and The Who and Elton John and everyone else who was around in the early 1970s,” says O’Regan. “But that concert was amazing. Bowie took everything to the next level, he was just beyond anything I’d ever witnessed. You know, it was mime, theatre, Japanese Kabuki… with rock music.”