The American Society of Magazine Editors has chosen the 40 best magazine covers from the last 40 years. Ranked first was Rolling Stone magazine with a photo by Annie Leibovitz of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The photo was taken on what would be the last day of Lennon’s life.
Brand Autopsy has put together a nice slide show of these 40 covers.
The top 10 magazine covers:
1. Rolling Stone, Jan. 22, 1981, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
2. Vanity Fair, August 1991, Demi Moore.
3. Esquire, April 1968, Muhammad Ali.
4. The New Yorker, March 29, 1976, Saul Steinberg drawing of Manhattan.
5. Esquire, May 1969, Andy Warhol.
6. The New Yorker, Sept. 24, 2001, Illustration of World Trade Center.
7. National Lampoon, January 1973, “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, We’ll Kill This Dog.”
8. Esquire, October 1966, “Oh my god — we hit a little girl.”
9. Harper’s Bazaar, September 1992, “Enter the Era of Elegance.”
10. National Geographic, June 1985, Afghan refugee.