What do these famous cover stars look like now?

1 June 2023, 14:58

Famous album cover stars
Famous album cover stars. Picture: Press

The Nirvana baby. The Siamese Dream girls. The Arctic Monkeys debut album guy. What are the names behind the album cover personalities?

  1. Blink 182 - Enema Of The State

    The nurse with a wicked look in her eye is none other than porn star Janine Lindemulder (although the band claim that they didn't know this at the time). The rubber glove was a reference to the band's original title, Turn Your Head And Cough.

    Blink-182 - Enema Of The State album cover
    Blink-182 - Enema Of The State album cover. Picture: Press

    Ms Lindemulder is the star of such cinematic offerings as Extreme Close Up (1997), Hidden Obsessions (1994) and Seven Deadly Sins (2000). She retired from the adult video industry the same year as she shot the Blink-182 cover, but made a comeback in 2004.

    Janine Lindemulder in 2014
    Janine Lindemulder in 2014. Picture: Km Press Group/Shutterstock
  2. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

    The man taking a drag on his ciggy is one Chris McClure, who is the brother of The Reverend Jon McClure, he of The Makers fame.

    Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not album cover
    Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not album cover. Picture: Press

    McClure also appeared on the cover of Toddla T's 2009 debut album Skanky Skanky, reprising his famous role. He was a mutual friend of both Toddla T and former Arctic Monkeys bassist Andy Nicholson.

  3. Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)

    One of the most famous cover stars of all time, young Spencer Elden was captured aged three months old in a swimming pool in Pasadena. His father Rick was a friend of photographer Kirk Weddle, who was setting up the shoot for the album cover.

    Nirvana - Nevermind album cover
    Nirvana - Nevermind album cover. Picture: Press

    "It's kind of cool, knowing that I've been on an album cover," Spencer told the Independent in 2008, when he recreated the pose, then aged 17. "But I feel pretty normal about it because growing up, I've always known I was the Nirvana baby. It never really struck me like, 'Oh, shit, that's me on the cover'."

    However, the experience of being the "Nirvana Baby" turned sour for Elden. In September 2022, he posted on Instagram: "Nirvana, you’ve ruined my life. I get harassed on the streets I’ve had several rocks thrown at my head leading to severe damage." Elden then attempted to take the band and their record company to court for publishing "child pornography", but judges have turned down the claim, saying that "the artwork did not constitute as child pornography and that Elden had waited too long to make the claims".

  4. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (1993)

    Two young girls playing dress-up and eating sweeties - the ideal way to depict a guitar-thrashing grunge classic, according to Billy Corgan.

    Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream album cover
    Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream album cover. Picture: Press

    When Billy reunited Smashing Pumpkins in 2018, he enlisted the help of the two girls - Ali Laenger and Lysandra Roberts - to launch the tour. And here’s how they looked 25 years later. As Corgan said: “What's amazing is their chemistry with one another still leaps through the camera to this day.”

  5. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (1986)

    The cover of the 'Miffs' classic album features a shot of the French-Swiss actor Alain Delon, taken from the 1964 film L'Insoumis (aka The Unvanquished). Delon plays a deserter from the French Foreign Legion and was also a producer on the picture. It's taken from the final scene, where Alain's character lies dying on the floor.

    The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead album cover
    The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead album cover. Picture: Press

    Monsieur Delon has also appeared in films such as The Leopard (1963), The Yellow Rolls Royce (1965), Spirits Of The Dead (1968), Girl On A Motorcycle (1968, with Marianne Faithfull) and Scorpio (1973).

    Alain Delon attends the screening of "A Hidden Life (Une Vie Cachée)" during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2019
    Alain Delon attends the screening of "A Hidden Life (Une Vie Cachée)" during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2019. Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage/Getty Images
  6. The Smiths - The Smiths (1984)

    Joe Dallesandro was a muscle man, model, actor and a graduate of Andy Warhol's Factory school of non-talent. The debut album from The Smiths shows a cropped shot of Little Joe from Warhol's 1968 art movie Trash.

    The Smiths - The Smiths (1984)
    The Smiths - The Smiths (1984). Picture: Press
    Joe Dallesandro photographed in June 1970 after starring in Warhol's "Trash"
    Joe Dallesandro photographed in June 1970 after starring in Warhol's "Trash". Picture: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images

    Joe Dallesandro also claimed to be the crotch behind the controversial sleeve to the Stones' first album on their own label. As he was a mate of Andy Warhol, who did the art direction, it's a reasonable claim, but one that has not been, er, verified.

    The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)
    The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971). Picture: Press

    The actor appeared in many of Warhol's challenging art movies, including Flesh, Trash and Heat. He's also appeared in John Waters' Cry Baby and Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club, but we consider his best work to be the 1970s camp-gore classics Flesh For Frankenstein and Blood For Dracula.

    oe Dallesandro attends the MAC Pro to Pro Los Angeles Event at Siren Studios on June 1, 2017
    oe Dallesandro attends the MAC Pro to Pro Los Angeles Event at Siren Studios on June 1, 2017. Picture: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
  7. U2 - Boy (1980)

    Young Peter Rowen was the younger brother of Guggi, member of Irish post-punk band The Virgin Prunes and a close friend of Bono. The US record label were worried that the band may be accused of paedophilia for some reason and changed the cover for Stateside release.

    U2 - Boy album cover
    U2 - Boy album cover. Picture: Press

    Peter appeared again (slightly older) on the cover of the band's third album, War. He later became a photographer and shot U2's 360° tour in 2009.

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  8. Placebo - Placebo (1996)

    David Fox is the young boy pictured on the cover of the band's 1996 debut album. The picture was shot by his cousin Saul Fletcher.

    Placebo - Placebo album cover
    Placebo - Placebo album cover. Picture: Press

    In June 2012, Fox told The Times he was going to sue over the album cover as it "ruined his life" because he was bullied at school. Fox was last seen in the identity parade on an episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks in October 2013.

  9. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)

    The two men on the cover of the band's ninth album are stuntmen Ronnie Rondell and Danny Rogers, shot at the Warner Brothers studio in Los Angeles.

    Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here album cover
    Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here album cover. Picture: Press

    Rondell - who plays the burning man - has worked on films as diverse as Batman And Robin, Waterworld, Thelma And Louise and Falling Down.

    Ronnie Rondell Jr during 4th Annual Taurus World Stunt Awards, 2004
    Ronnie Rondell Jr during 4th Annual Taurus World Stunt Awards, 2004. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images