Top 10 Most Memorable Magazine Covers

This list features the most controversial, coolest and sexiest cover ever. Iconic magazine covers capture images of historic and cultural landmarks that persist in the collective consciousness. In America, the first magazines were published in 1741 and the world hasn't been the same since. Thousands of cover have been published since. Most of the covers features celebrities, politicians, athletes and other famous person. Here are 10 most memorable magazine covers ever.

Format: (What on the cover), (magazine).
The Top Ten
1 Twin Towers, The New Yorker

One of the best covers I've seen. The date is September 24, 2001. You can guess what it's about. It's titled Twin Towers in Silhouette. At first glance, the cover appears to be totally black, but if you look closely it reveals the silhouettes of the World Trade Center towers in a slightly darker shade of black. The cover was created by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly.

2 Donald Trump and little child, TIME

The date is June 21, 2018. On the left, there was a caption, "Welcome to America." On the cover, there were a little child and Trump himself. For those who are wondering why Trump was on the cover, it is because in that week, Trump signed an executive order ending his administration's policy of separating undocumented migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Horrible.

3 Muhammad Ali, Esquire

The issue is from April 1968. This was shot when tensions from the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests ran high. Muhammad Ali refused to fight in the Vietnam War for the U.S. armed forces, and his boxing title was stripped for this refusal. He also had his license to fight denied. He was fined $10,000 and later arrested, though he never served time (he was cleared by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971). It was titled "The Passion of Muhammad Ali." He was dressed as Saint Sebastian.

"My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America," he explained.

4 Glamour's First Black Model, Glamour

That is an issue from August 1968. The girl in the picture is Katiti Kironde. At that time, she was a freshman at Harvard University. She was 18. She applied for Glamour's "Top 10 Best Dressed College Girls" competition and won the highest honor. It remains one of the best-selling Glamour issues. After graduating, she worked in the fashion industry for three decades. This was the first time a popular magazine featured a black woman.

5 Adolf Hitler as Person of The Year, TIME

The date is January 2, 1939. He was TIME Person of the Year for 1938. But, this wasn't an honor. It was for the person that most influenced the world for better or worse. He was depicted as a tiny figure with his back to the viewer, playing an organ with his murdered victims spinning on a St. Catherine's wheel.

There was a caption underneath the stark, black-and-white illustration: "From the unholy organist, a hymn of hate." It's not the best but definitely the most memorable.

6 Martin Luther King as Man of The Year, TIME

This is from January 3, 1964. He is the first African American to be Man of the Year. But, it wasn't his first time. In 1957 he was featured on the cover for his role in the Montgomery bus boycott. He was honored to get the title. Other than the cover, it includes seven pages of pictures of him during his career.

7 Princess Diana, People

It's from September 15, 1997. She died 16 days before, on August 31, 1997. This issue was a tribute to Princess Diana. The cause of death was a car crash. Princess Diana was in black and white on the cover. This issue sold 3.1 million copies, making it the best-selling issue of People Magazine of all time.

8 An Afghan girl, National Geographic

The most popular National Geographic cover. From June 1985. On the cover, there was a 12-year-old refugee in a camp on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Soviet helicopters destroyed her village and family, forcing her to make a two-week trek out of the perilous mountains of Afghanistan. After this, this photo has become one of the most iconic National Geographic photos ever.

9 Avril Lavigne topless, Blender
10 Jennifer Aniston, “The Girl Friend,” with bare bottom, Rolling Stone
The Contenders
11 John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Rolling Stone

The date is January 22, 1981. The image was photographed by renowned celebrity portraitist Annie Leibovitz only hours before Lennon was shot on December 8, 1980. The photo was used on the cover of Rolling Stone's tribute issue to Lennon. It features a nude John kissing Yoko. "You've captured our relationship exactly," Lennon told Leibovitz.

On the night when John was killed, Leibovitz decided it was a cover. The special edition sold more than a million copies. This is, needless to say, the most popular Rolling Stone cover.

12 Janet Jackson naked, Rolling Stone

From September 1993. It was her second time on the cover. It features a nude Janet Jackson. Her breast was covered by her boyfriend's hand, Rene Elizondo. Needless to say, this caused controversy. She had just released her fifth studio album titled janet. four months before.

13 Helmut Lang, Fantastic Man
14 Staples in a man's head, Wired
15 Imran Khan Married to Jemima Goldsmith
16 The Top Gear trio dressed like schoolboys, Radio Times
17 First cover after founder Larry Flynt discovered religion, Hustler
BAdd New Item