The World was a large nightclub in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, which operated from the early 1980's until 1991 at 254 East 2nd Street, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's East Village neighborhood. The venue, which included a secondary establishment called "The It Club," was housed in a former catering hall and theater. The World attracted a clientele that was economically, racially, and sexually diverse, and included artists, celebrities, and fashion designers, such as

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

, Afrika Bambaataa,

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

, Brooke Shields,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Stephen Sprouse Stephen Sprouse (September 12, 1953 – March 4, 2004) was an American fashion designer and artist credited with pioneering the 1980s mix of "uptown sophistication in clothing with a downtown punk and pop sensibility". Career Stephen Sprouse's in ...

, RuPaul, and

Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño; 8 January 1939) is a Venezuelan-American fashion designer known for her personal style, and for dressing various First Ladies, including Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michel ...

, together with

banjee Banjee (as in: "banjee boy" or "banjee girl") is a term originating in the house system and ball culture of New York City which seem to be "from the hood" or embodying an urban, tough swagger. The term is mostly associated with New York City and ...

boys and members of

voguing Vogue, or voguing, is a highly stylized, modern house dance originating in the late 1980s that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1960s. It gained mainstream exposure when it was featured in Madonna's song and video "Vogue" (1990) ...

houses An early incubator of New York's

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

and

club kid The Club Kids were a group of young New York City dance club personalities popularized by Michael Alig, James St. James, Julie Jewels, Astro Erle, Michael Tronn, DJ Keoki, and Ernie Glam in the late 1980s, and throughout the 1990s would grow to ...

scenes, the World helped launch the careers of several prominent nightlife figures, including

Michael Alig Michael Alig (April 29, 1966 – December 24, 2020) was an American club promoter and convicted felon. He was one of the ringleaders of the Club Kids, a group of young New York City clubgoers who became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1980s a ...

, DJ

Larry Tee Larry Tee (born October 12, 1959) is a Berlin-based DJ, club promoter, and music producer who curated the electroclash scene in New York in the early 2000s, and helped launch the careers of such artists as RuPaul, Scissor Sisters, Fischerspooner ...

, DJ

David Morales David Morales (; born August 21, 1962) is an American disc jockey (DJ) and record producer. In addition to his production and DJ work, Morales is also a remixer. David Morales has remixed and produced over 500 releases for artists including Ma ...

, DJ Frankie Knuckles, DJ Kip Lavinger, DJ Zoe B, the

Lady Bunny Lady Bunny, originally known as "Bunny Hickory Dickory Dock" (born Jon Ingle, August 13, 1962), is an American drag queen, nightclub DJ, actor, comedian, and event organizer. She is the founder of the annual Wigstock event, as well as an occasion ...

, and Dean Johnson, whose Tuesday night "Rock and Roll Fag Bar" party gave rise to New York's gay rock and roll scene. Several big-name music acts also made cameo appearances at The World, including

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

, The Ramones, Echo & the Bunnymen, Madness, Big Audio Dynamite, Sinéad O'Connor,

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

The Sugarcubes The Sugarcubes ( Icelandic: Sykurmolarnir) were an Icelandic alternative rock band from Reykjavík formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. For most of their career, the band consisted of Björk Guðmundsdóttir (vocals, keyboards), Einar Örn Bened ...

, Salt-N-Pepa, and

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

. The World was also used as one of the filming locations for

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

's 1988 music video for the song "

Disco Dancer ''Disco Dancer'' is a 1982 Indian dance film, written by Rahi Masoom Raza and directed by Babbar Subhash. It stars Mithun Chakraborty and Kim in leading roles, with Om Puri, Gita Siddharth and Karan Razdan in supporting roles with Rajesh K ...

" The World operated largely outside the law, and opened and closed unpredictably. It ceased operations permanently in 1991, when its owner was found dead on the premises. The building that housed The World was subsequently demolished and replaced with an apartment building.

References

External links

* http://zoelund.com/docs/short/Lupino.html
The World Facebook Page

Video footage of the World
featuring

, James St. James, and other

club kids The Club Kids were a group of young New York City dance club personalities popularized by Michael Alig, James St. James, Julie Jewels, Astro Erle, Michael Tronn, DJ Keoki, and Ernie Glam in the late 1980s, and throughout the 1990s would grow to i ...

and

drag queens A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:World (Nightclub) Cultural history of New York City Nightclubs in Manhattan House music 1980s establishments in New York City 1991 disestablishments in New York (state) 1991 in New York City 1990s in Manhattan