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 Entertainment | October 2005 
Lennon-Ono Photo Deemed Top Magazine Cover
 Deepti Hajela - Associated Press
On what would be the last day of his life, John Lennon posed for photographs with Yoko Ono in a session with photographer Annie Liebovitz. One of the pictures, a naked Lennon curled around and kissing a clothed Ono, became the cover for Rolling Stone magazine's tribute to him.
That iconic image published a month after his December 1980 death has been ranked the top magazine cover of the last 40 years by a panel of magazine editors, artists and designers. Others on the list include images from the Sept. 11 attacks, the Vietnam War and of Katiti Kironde II, the first black woman on the cover of a national women's magazine, in the August 1968 Glamour.
The American Society of Magazine Editors announced the winners of the competition on Monday during the American Magazine Conference in Puerto Rico. The competition was held as a way to mark the 40th anniversary of the group's awards.
"Both the choice of a cover and the execution of a cover are crucial for any magazine," said Mark Whitaker, editor of Newsweek and ASME president. "Every editor wants their cover to stand out."
Coming in second was the shot of a very pregnant Demi Moore on the August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair, followed by an April 1968 image from Esquire of boxer Muhammad Ali with arrows in his body. The Saul Steinberg drawing of New York's West Side dwarfing the rest of the country, published in The New Yorker on March 29, 1976, came in fourth. Esquire's May 1969 image of Pop Art maven Andy Warhol drowning in a can of tomato soup took the fifth spot.
Other covers on the list include The New Yorker from Sept. 24, 2001, silhouettes of the World Trade Center towers against a black background; National Geographic's June 1985 cover of an Afghan refugee girl with haunted eyes; People magazine's cover from Sept. 15, 1997 — a black-and-white portrait of a smiling Princess Diana; and Life magazine's image of man on the moon from 1969.
There were a few ties, leading to a total of 41 images chosen.
Magazine covers can reflect the society around them, by how controversial they choose to be, said Johanna Keller, professor of magazine journalism at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications.
"They're absolutely a societal barometer of what we find acceptable to look at," she said.
Good covers can range from funny to poignant, she said. "The ones that work best touch us in the same way that great art touches us ... stirring our very deepest human emotions."
The list was decided on by a panel of 52 magazine editors, design directors, art directors and photography editors.
Esquire, Time and Life each had four covers on the list. Eleven of the covers came from the 1960s, eight from the 1970s, three from the 1980s, 10 from the 1990s and nine from this decade. Thirty-two covers were photographs, while seven were illustrations and two were text.
TOP 40 MAGAZINE COVERS
1. Rolling Stone – Jan. 22, 1981 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono laying 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”
11. Life – April 30, 1965 – “Drama of life before birth” – fetus in womb drawing
12. Time – April 8, 1966 – “Is God Dead?”
13. Life – 1969 – Man on the moon: “To the moon & back”
14. The New Yorker – December 10, 2001 – “New Yorkistan” map: New York divided into Middle Eastern names
15. Harper’s Bazaar – April 1965 – Model’s face peering through pink cutout
16. The Economist – Sept. 10-16, 1994 – Two camels portraying: “The Trouble with Mergers”
17. Time – June 21, 1968 – Lichtenstein drawing: “The gun in America”
18. ESPN – June 29, 1998 – Michael Jordan jumping against all-white background
19. Esquire – December 2000 – smiling Bill Clinton photo
20. Blue – October 1997 – Man diving
21. Life – November 26, 1965 – Vietcong prisoner with eyes and mouth taped shut: “The blunt reality of war in Vietnam”
22. George – Oct/Nov 1995 – Cindy Crawford dressed as George Washington
23. The Nation – November 13, 2000 – George Bush: What me, worry?
24. Interview – December 1972 – Andy Warhol photographing model for the Christmas issue
25. Time – September 14, 2001 – 9/11: Photo of twin towers terrorist bombing
26. People – March 4, 1974 – Young Mia Farrow biting a strand of pearls, set to star in Gatsby
27. Entertainment Weekly – May 2, 2003 – Nude Dixie Chicks – “Country’s controversial superstars take on their critics”
28. Life – April 16, 1965 – Black and white photo: “Vietcong zero in on vulnerable U.S. copters”
29. (tie) Playboy – October 1971 – African American woman posing on Playboy bunny chair
29. (tie) Fortune – Oct. 1, 2001 – “Up from the ashes”: Man covered in ashes after 9/11 terrorist attacks
31. Newsweek – November 20, 2000 – Half Bush, half Gore photo: “And the winner is…”
32. Vogue – May 2004 – Nicole Kidman’s back profile – dress in an elegant gown
33. (tie) Newsweek – July 30, 1973 – “The Nixon Tapes”: Aerial view of the White House turned into a tape recorder
33. (tie) Wired – June 1997 – Apple symbol covered in barbed wire: “Pray”
35. New York – June 8, 1970 – “Free Leonard Bernstein”
36. People – September 15, 1997 – Black and white Princess Diana photo
37. Details – February 1989 – Cyndi Lauper photo
37. (tie) Fast Company – Aug/Sept 1997 – “The brand called You” – against a Tide background
37. (tie) Glamour – August 1968 – “Best Dressed College Girls” with a black woman as the cover model (first time a black woman appeared on the cover of a national women’s magazine)
37. (tie) National Geographic – October 1978 – Gorilla taking photograph: “Conversations with a gorilla”
37. (tie) Time – April 14, 1997 – Ellen DeGeneres: “Yep, I’m Gay”
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