As evidenced by Madonna's 2023-2024 holiday tour, the Queen of Pop's reign has brought her subjects an embarrassment of riches when it comes to iconic images.
From her bride on the 1984 cover Like a VIRGIN in the image of a cosmic multiple unitary on the 2019 cover Madame HMadonna has endlessly reinvented herself – and in the process, raised the bar for what it means to be a pop star for four decades.
On her album covers, Madonna is many things: cowgirl, earth mother, disco dancer, religious figure, sex siren and more. One thing that has never gone, however, is boring.
As the Queen of Pop's reign continues, we take a look back at her discography and rank her album covers. What follows is not a ranked list of music — we're just talking about works of art here. Does the cover effectively convey the mood of the album? Does it catch your attention? Does it leave a lasting impression? Does it inspire you?
Many of them aren't just album covers – they're iconic pieces of pop culture history, influencing musicians, filmmakers and fashionistas who followed in her footsteps.
A few notes: Some of these albums have multiple covers. In these cases, we decided to focus on the standard version of the album. And for this list, we're focusing on her proper studio albums. Some may count 1990s I'm out of breath as a studio effort and not a soundtrack, but as it was a Dick Tracy movie tie-in, we think of it more like a soundtrack that looks like Evita the Who is that girl and not rank it here. Also out: collections, meaning the instantly recognizable illustration on its cover The Immaculate Collection it is not here, nor is it GHV2 the You can dance.
That gives us 14 more album covers to rank. So let's take a look at which covers were jaw-dropping highlights and which ones we haven't covered.
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14. “Hard Candy” (2008)
Image credit: Warner Records
Boxing and mints, anyone? While the “sweet but tough” theme made for a compelling album, the cover didn't quite deliver. This shot of Madonna looks more like an outtake than the best shot of a photo shoot, and placing it next to a close-up of a mint feels like a bit of PhotoShop 101. Hey, they can't all be winners.
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13. “American Life” (2003)
Image credit: Warner Records
Che Guevara's look has been co-opted so often and for so long it's almost pointless to bemoan it, but there's something particularly odd about Madonna lending herself to the image of the Marxist revolutionary. Guevara was a guy who hated capitalism so much that after he helped facilitate the Cuban Missile Crisis, he urged Russia to launch those nuclear warheads against US citizens, arguing that it would be worth killing “millions” of innocents just to hurt American imperialism. .
Now, Madonna is definitely a rebel, but she's also a dyed-in-the-wool capitalist. Hell, she didn't follow her path from her beginnings in New York City to conquering the planet and making millions of dollars along the way Communist Manifesto. The connection between the two, on an album cover no less, is a bit rich.
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12. “Madame X” (2019)
Image credit: Interscope Records
With those thin eyebrows, piercing blue eyes, and red lips (Taylor could never) stitched together, Madonna announced her Madame H era with an impressive image. Is it one of her most iconic? Probably not, but the Queen of Pop has amassed a rich library of culturally significant images over the course of four decades, so the fact that this gorgeous image isn't even in her top 10 is still a testament to her keen eye.
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11. 'Music' (2000)
Image credit: Warner Records
Two decades ago cowboy carter, Madonna played cowgirl with the 2000 classic MUSIC. M's blonde locks spill out from under her baby blue Stetson, which is a few shades lighter than the luxe navy blue of her outfit, as she poses in front of classic Americana cars. Her provocative gaze has a love me or leave me quality, and based on the response MUSICthe vocal audience went with the former.
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10. 'Bedtime Stories' (1994)
Image credit: Warner Records
A soft, sensual image of the queen of pop in bed rocking a lace nightie (and a nose stud) accompanied the rich Bedtime stories album. Unlike many artworks that feature women reclining in bed, this one finds the subject looking directly back at the camera, challenging the male gaze while simultaneously inviting it. Take a quick look and you might not even think it's Madonna, mistaking her for one of the Golden Age Hollywood stars she was inspired by, such as Jean Harlow.
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9. “Rebel Heart” (2015)
Image credit: Interscope Records
There is something essentially about Madonna on the cover Revolutionary Heart. We see the Queen of Pop from the bare shoulders up, looking up with her mouth slightly open as if to say something. Her hair is perfect, the make-up is flawless – it could be a simple glamor shot if it weren't for the black cord tightly woven around her face, pushing against her skin and distorting her iconic image. Weird and wonderful.
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8. “MDNA” (2012)
Image credit: Interscope Records
Like her next album, Revolutionary Heart, the cover to MDNA it could have been a simple, flattering image of the Queen. She's in a gorgeous shade of rose-red, rocking a choker, plush fingerless gloves and a cinched waist. But Madonna was never content to just be beautiful, and so the image takes on a twist, with vertical lines cutting through the vivid photo and giving it a disjointed quality, almost as if you're looking at her through a crystal glass.
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7. “Erotica” (1992)
Image credit: Warner Records
For Erotic, Madonna took pop to incredible heights and alluring depths that no star had dared to explore before. To that end, the cover looks like a Warholian version of smut, looking more like a poster you'd see around Times Square in the rainy '70s than a Sam Goody at your local mall. Eyes closed, mouth open and bathed in a blinding white light, Madonna made it clear that his album was not for the faint of heart.
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6. “Ray of Light” (1998)
Image credit: Warner Records
A visual 180 compared to Erotica, the cover to Ray of light it shows Madonna in her electronic earth mother era, straddling the line between maternal dignity and techno club futurism. The teal hues of the background and her outfit give everything a familiar yet foreign feel, almost like you're peeking into a strange, underwater world – it's of this earth, but not something you're used to seeing every day.
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5. “Like a Prayer” (1989)
Image credit: Warner Records
It's ironic, or perhaps fitting, that Madonna's most lyrically honest album is the only one without her face on the cover. Instead, we get a close-up of her bejeweled hands resting on her unbuttoned jeans with a beaded pendant dangling in front of her bare midriff. It's more religious than naughty, but even so, that didn't stop the L7s from clutching their pearls and crossing themselves defensively at the time.
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4. “Dance Floor Confessions” (2005)
Image credit: Warner Records
With her face turned away from the viewer, her back arched and her limbs playing in four different directions, Madonna strikes a pose for this 2005 album cover, albeit an unusual one. Her hair, a fiery shade of Rite Hayworth red, picks up where the hot pink of her body leaves off, giving the whole disco look a sense of vibrancy and movement.
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3. “True Blue” (1986)
Image credit: Warner Records
Herb Ritts (who also did the Like a Prayer cover) took the photo that covered Madonna's third album, True blue. With her skin bleached and her platinum blonde hair looking just as pale, this iconic profile image of Madonna became one of the defining images of the 80s. Even with her eyes closed, she is strong, provocative and energetic. This is a snapshot of a cultural juggernaut coming into its own worldwide power.
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2. “Like a Virgin” (1984)
Image credit: Warner Records
Pop iconography doesn't get much more iconic than this. Wearing a fishnet wedding dress, 'boy toy' belt and a facial expression that lets you know the words 'like' on this album cover are the key to understanding it, Madonna buried the idea of a blushing bride with this cheeky album cover. Despite her name, she's neither Madonna nor whore in this photo, but a new archetype she's helped forge in the cultural consciousness: An unapologetic, sexually mature woman who pushes boundaries — not to fulfill your fantasy but to her empowerment.
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1. “Madonna” (1983)
Image credit: Warner Records
Provocative, hungry, and for the first and only time in her career, even naive, this striking image of Madonna Ciccone introduced the rising pop star to the world. From her bleached hair to the chain around her neck to the horn cord around her wrists, Madonna gave '80s teenagers a look that had a seismic impact on malls from Jersey to SoCal. Shaking her face, pulling the chain around her neck and looking you straight in the eye, Madonna seems to be conveying a lot with this image – namely, the message that she's arrived and she's here to stay.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/photos/madonna-album-covers-ranked-1235642607/
