London nights 2006: Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Björk

London · September to November 2006

In the autumn of 2006 I spent most of my nights outside London's clubs. These are five of them.

On 20 September Katie Price walked out of Boujis in South Kensington, two months after Angel, her first novel, came out.

A week later came the big one. On 27 September Jay-Z played the Royal Albert Hall with a 25-piece orchestra, the first hip-hop show the hall had ever hosted. The party moved on to Movida on Argyll Street, and in the early hours he and Beyoncé left together in the back of a car. B'Day had come out weeks earlier, and Kingdom Come was due that November.

On 11 October Ashlee Simpson marked her 22nd birthday at the Embassy in Mayfair, during her West End run as Roxie Hart in Chicago. Nine nights later Stephen Dorff, fresh from Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, grinned from the back of a car outside the Cuckoo Club. And on Halloween Björk left the Café Royal on Regent Street in a gold mask.

Twenty years on, Jay-Z and Beyoncé have been married since 2008, Katie Price's life is told in the Sky series Nothing to Hide, Dorff is in the new thriller The Deputy, and Björk releases an orchestral live album on 27 November.

These pictures are part of my London archive from 1999 to 2014. To license them, contact Backgrid UK Sales and quote the BGUK number.

Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID. Licensing: Backgrid UK Sales, backgrid_uksales@shutterstock.com

Jay-Z, in a dark shirt with a hand raised to his face, sits in the back of a car with cream leather seats beside Beyoncé in a
MOVIDA, ARGYLL STREET, SEPTEMBER 2006. Jay-Z and Beyoncé leave the after party for his Royal Albert Hall concert at Movida, London, in the early hours of 28 September 2006. BGUK_3723059. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID
Katie Price, hair in a high ponytail, in a leopard print dress with gold chain detail, holds a black clutch bag as she leaves
BOUJIS, SOUTH KENSINGTON, SEPTEMBER 2006. Katie Price leaves Boujis in South Kensington, London, in the early hours of 20 September 2006. BGUK_3723068. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID
Ashlee Simpson in a short black dress waves in front of a white branded backdrop at a party.
EMBASSY, MAYFAIR, OCTOBER 2006. Ashlee Simpson at her 22nd birthday party at the Embassy club, London, on 11 October 2006. BGUK_3723070. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID
Stephen Dorff in a brown leather jacket grins at the camera from the back seat of a car at night.
CUCKOO CLUB, OCTOBER 2006. Stephen Dorff grins from the back of a car after leaving the Cuckoo Club, London, in the early hours of 21 October 2006. BGUK_3723072. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID
Björk in a gold face mask and a white quilted wrap walks along a London street at night with hooded companions.
CAFÉ ROYAL, HALLOWEEN 2006. Björk, in a gold mask, leaves a Halloween party at the Café Royal on Regent Street, London, in the early hours of 1 November 2006. BGUK_3723066. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID