Best magazine covers judged

A naked John Lennon, a heavily pregnant Demi Moore and an arrow-pierced Muhammad Ali have topped a list of the best American magazine covers of the past 40 years, issued by the American Society of Magazine Editors. The winners were chosen from nearly 450 submissions from magazines.

The No 1 cover was an image taken in 1981 by Annie Liebowitz for Rolling Stone of a naked John Lennon curled in a foetal position around a clothed Yoko Ono.

Second place went to the 1991 Vanity Fair cover of an equally naked Demi Moore, photographed towards the end of her pregnancy. And a 1965 Esquire cover depicting Muhammad Ali as a latter day St Sebastien, his body peppered with arrows like a human pin-cushion, took third place.

A list of the top magazine covers from the last 40 years, as decided by judges in a contest from the American Society of Magazine Editors:

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.
11. Life, April 30, 1965, 18-week-old fetus.
12. Time, April 8, 1966, "Is God Dead?"
13. Life, Special Issue, 1969, man on the moon.
14. The New Yorker, Dec. 10, 2001, illustration of New York City map.
15. Harper's Bazaar, April 1965.
16. The Economist, Sept. 10-16, 1994, photo of camels, "The trouble With mergers."
17. Time, June 21, 1968, "The Gun in America."
18. ESPN, June 29, 1998, Michael Jordan.
19. Esquire, December 2000, Bill Clinton.
20. Blue, October 1997.
21. Life, Nov. 26, 1965, Vietcong prisoner with eyes and mouth taped.
22. George, October/November 1995, Cindy Crawford.
23. The Nation, Nov. 13, 2000, George W. Bush.
24. Interview, December 1972, Andy Warhol.
25. Time, Sept. 14, 2001, World Trade Center.
26. People, March 4, 1974, Mia Farrow.
27. Entertainment Weekly, May 2, 2003, The Dixie Chicks.
28. Life, April 16, 1965, dying pilot and helicopter crew chief.
29. (tie) Playboy, October 1971.
29. (tie) Fortune, Oct. 1, 2001, man covered in ashes near World Trade Center.
31. Newsweek, Nov. 20, 2000, image of Al Gore/George W. Bush.
32. Vogue, May 2004, Nicole Kidman.
33. (tie) Newsweek, July 30, 1973, Nixon White House and tape recorder
33. (tie) Wired, June 1997, "Pray."
35. New York, June 8, 197, "Free Leonard Bernstein!"
36. People, Sept. 15, 1997, black-and-white portrait of Princess Diana.
37. (tie) Details, February 1989, Cyndi Lauper.
37. (tie) Fast Company, August/September 1997, "The Brand Called You."
37. (tie) Glamour, August 1968, Katiti Kironde II
37. (tie) National Geographic, October 1978, gorilla with camera.
37. (tie) Time, April 14, 1997, Ellen DeGeneres.