Revisiting 40 Years of ELLE Cover Stars

“I can’t thank ELLE enough for putting me with that dream team and giving me that incredible image that defined my career…I turned my head, the camera clicked, and Gilles shouted ‘oui,’ and that was the cover.”—Veronica Webb, 2025

“Serena and I are bold. We stand out. We’re strong. We’re smart.”—Venus Williams, 2001

“[ELLE] was always more fresh, more natural. They never had anything against my curves. Strong women.”—Heidi Klum, 2025

“My cover was such a big moment, because it proved I wasn’t just the girl from The Simple Life. Fashion has always been such a big part of who I am.”—Paris Hilton, 2025

“I think my mom thought I was going to wait, be married awhile. But those weren’t the plans of Britney!”—Britney Spears, 2005

“They’ve been calling me Cinderella since I first started out.”—Mariah Carey, 2008

“I had the rug pulled out from underneath my feet so many times. It was like, ‘Listen up, bitch, you’re not going to get served this on a silver platter—you’ve got to work for it!’”—Katy Perry, 2011

“I’m growing up, and whether I take the right steps or wrong steps, it’ll be interesting—and scary.”—Selena Gomez, 2012

“A wild moment that I remember from my ELLE cover shoot was sort of wearing this latex hat thing that was so tight, and we were walking up and down the streets of London, because we shot this in London, and I just couldn’t hear anything, and I couldn’t breathe. But the shot looked amazing.”—Rita Ora, 2025

“I’m great under pressure. I’m a warrior. I’m Rocky, round 12.”—Lady Gaga, 2013

“[My sisters and I] are not American in terms of feeding into that machine that you have to be somebody. We were somebody the moment we were born.”—Zoe Saldaña, 2014

“I’d like to help remove the pressure society puts on people to fit in a certain box.”—Beyoncé, 2016

“To make the work I make, I can’t feel like a famous person.”—Lorde, 2017

“I’ve always been a dreamer…or let’s just say I kept my options open. In my heart, I knew singing was gonna be in my future, but I considered psychology, hairdressing, banking, teaching, acting, modeling, aviation, and philanthropy. I just didn’t know I’d pretty much be doing all of these things eventually!”—Rihanna, 2017

“The things that people do come so easy to me. I could do it in my sleep. But I’m such a perfectionist that when something is too easy to me, I actually feel guilty.”—Nicki Minaj, 2018

“We get so stressed about little things when, in the big picture, we’re just a speck of dust on this tiny planet in this enormous solar system that is also a speck in a huge, mysterious black hole situation…”—Ariana Grande, 2018

“You only have so much room in your life and so much energy to give to those in it. Be discerning. If someone in your life is hurting you, draining you, or causing you pain in a way that feels unresolvable, blocking their number isn’t cruel. It’s just a simple setting on your phone that will eliminate drama if you so choose to use it.”—Taylor Swift, 2019

“I don’t know who I am outside of someone who’s just trying to be free and find safety for myself and for others.”—Indya Moore, 2019

“When we say ‘Blackpink in your area,’ we’re literally saying we’re in your area with good music, with good energy—we’re here for you.”—Jennie, 2020

“I [told] Donatella Versace, ‘I want to be an American flag because I’m going to be singing ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ with my daughter, but when I open it up, I want them to know that my heart and soul is Puerto Rican.’”—Jennifer Lopez, 2021

“I always say that music saved my life, saved my family’s life. For me, music is everything.—Maluma, 2021

“At what point does Hollywood stop looking at money and start looking at people’s safety?”—FKA Twigs, 2021

“I never, ever, in my wildest dreams, thought I would have achieved half the things that I have now.”—Adut Akech, 2021

“Since the beginning, almost all of my videos were my own ideas. I just didn’t know that I could direct them. It’s hard to translate an idea that you have in your own head—to make somebody else understand it—and then make it come to life. Sometimes you’ve just got to do it yourself, even if it’s hard.”—Billie Eilish, 2021

“I wasn’t making choices based on what felt good to me. Now we’re in an era of, What do I actually want? The good spot right now is taking a minute to say, ‘Maybe I should do this differently,’ and seeing what that feels like.”—Zoë Kravitz, 2022

“I know my power. You may not know my power yet. I don’t have to force you to see. You’re going to see it.”—Precious Lee, 2022

“But one thing I feel so lucky with how big my life is now, is that I really lived a normal life. You know?”—Adele, 2022

“There’s nothing more fun to me than sinking my teeth into something and trying to understand it through and through.”—Lily-Rose Depp, 2022

“I’m choosing to change the narrative because I’m more than just my trauma.”—Megan Thee Stallion, 2023

“I can’t not be a person and live my life and love the person I love. But also, I do have control over what I choose to share.”—Zendaya, 2023

“The clothes were amazing. I also loved my hair. I had some dreads in at the time, and Nikki Nelms slayed. I loved singing on set with Fantasia and Taraji. We just had a really good time.”—Danielle Brooks, 2025

“I’m fortunate that I’ve got a job where I get to explore emotional landscapes that are heavy, strange, extraordinary, bizarre, beautiful, deep. I don’t shy away from them.”—Nicole Kidman, 2024

“I remember feeling deeply honored to be included alongside such an inspiring group of actresses. It’s moments like this one that make me stop and savor the moment of being a part of such an iconic magazine as ELLE. It’s a cover I will save and show off to my future grandchildren!”—Mikey Madison, 2025

“While we’re so focused on what we’re not, we miss out on the beauty of all that we are. The thing is, I do have love for my body, but it’s more about appreciation—I can really appreciate all that my body does for me now, not just how it looks.”—Demi Moore, 2025

“I’m an actor, and the side of me that’s out there that I want people to see is in the work.”—Saoirse Ronan, 2025

“The impossible is what excites me.”—Pamela Anderson, 2025

“I want every character I play to be complicated and deep and have layers to them, because that’s what it is to be human.”—Daisy Edgar-Jones, 2025

“In life, everyone acts—we’re all putting on a show, aren’t we?”—Addison Rae, 2025

“I always want to make movies like that—things that make people happy and bring people together. I love making movies for that reason—for people to escape and find something that they can take into their own life and realize everything’s going to be okay.”—Lindsay Lohan, 2025

“The driving force that leads you to continue making music has to come from a place of purity. Motives like money, pleasure, power…I don’t feel that they are fertile. Nothing will come out of there that I’m really interested in.”—Rosalía, 2025