The Top Magazine Covers

Posted on November 10, 2005

At the 2005 American Magazine Conference the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) provided a list of their picks for the 40 greatest magazine covers of the last 40 years. Rolling Stone's January 22, 1981 cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono was named the top magazine cover to appear since 1965, while Vanity Fair's cover featuring a naked, pregnant Demi Moore (August 1991), ranked as the # 2 cover. The # 3 cover from Esquire's April 1968 issue depicted Muhammad Ali with six arrows in his body. Here is a list of the top ten covers.

1. Rolling Stone - Jan. 22, 1981 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono lying in bed
2. Vanity Fair - Aug. 1991 - Nude pregnant Demi Moore
3. Esquire - April 1968 - "The Passion of Muhammad Ali": Ali with arrows in his body
4. The New Yorker - March 29, 1976 - Drawing of New York from Hudson River and rest of the country to Pacific Ocean
5. Esquire - May 1969 - Andy Warhol drowning in Campbell's soup can - "The decline and collapse of American avant-garde"
6. The New Yorker - Sept. 24, 2001 - 9/11 - Twin towers drawing in all black against a gray skyline
7. National Lampoon - January 1973 - "If you don't buy this magazine, we'll kill this dog" - Man pointing gun at terrified dog
8. Esquire - October 1966 - "Oh my God - we hit a little girl."
9. Harper's Bazaar - Sept. 1992 - Linda Evangelista holding up the letter "A" in magazine's title: "Enter the Era of Elegance"
10. National Geographic - June 1985 - Afghan girl - "Haunted eyes of an Afghan refugee's fears"

Photo: ASME