The best magazine cover of the last 40 years was Rolling Stone’s January 1981 cover photograph of a naked John Lennon curled up in a fetal position around his wife, Yoko Ono. That is the judgment of editors and art directors from about 50 of the nation’s top magazines, who were asked to pick the 40 best covers of the last 40 years, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the National Magazine Awards. The picture was taken by Annie Leibovitz just hours before Mr. Lennon was shot and killed on Dec. 8, 1980.
The second best was the August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair featuring a naked and pregnant Demi Moore, also photographed by Ms. Leibovitz. Coming in third was the April 1968 cover of Esquire showing a bare-chested Muhammad Ali, pierced by arrows for refusing to be inducted into the United States Army.
The 40 best covers list.
Here’s the top 10:
- Rolling Stone — Jan. 22, 1981 — John Lennon and Yoko Ono laying in bed
- Vanity Fair — Aug. 1991 — Nude pregnant Demi Moore
- Esquire — April 1968 — “The Passion of Muhammad Ali” — Ali with arrows in his body
- The New Yorker — March 29, 1976 — Drawing of New York from Hudson River and rest of the country to Pacific Ocean
- Esquire — May 1969 — Andy Warhol drowning in Campbell’s soup can — “The decline and collapse of American avant-garde”
- The New Yorker — Sept. 24, 2001 — 9/11 — Twin towers drawing in all black against a gray skyline
- National Lampoon — January 1973 — “If you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll kill this dog” — Man pointing gun at terrified dog
- Esquire — October 1966 — “Oh my God — we hit a little girl.”
- Harper’s Bazaar — Sept. 1992 — Linda Evangelista holding up the letter “A” in magazine’s title: “Enter the Era of Elegance”
- National Geographic — June 1985 — Afghan girl — “Haunted eyes of an Afghan refugee’s fears”