Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue cover has featured a bevy of celebrities, models and athletes since its first edition in 1964. But it wasn’t until 2007 when Beyoncé modeled for the cover of the edition that the magazine branched out beyond models and athletes to tapping celebrity entertainers as their cover stars. Since then, several non-models and non-athletes have graced the cover, in no small part due to Beyoncé’s cover star status.
In the spring of 2006, the editorial team at Sports Illustrated chose music as the theme for the 2007 special edition issue. That same year, Beyoncé was broadening her business acumen, introducing a swimwear line under the House of Deréon fashion line, which she co-introduced with her mother Tina Knowles. The combination of Sports Illustrated’s theme for their swimsuit issue coupled with Beyoncé’s business decision made for an advantageous collaboration between the singer and magazine.
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Prior to Beyoncé’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover, the magazine primarily dedicated the cover shoot to models. Within the decade preceding 2007, however, the magazine began to make certain changes and meet ongoing cultural conversations concerning inclusivity. In 1996, Tyra Banks became the first Black woman to cover the magazine. Valeria Mazza was also a cover model for the 1996 issue.
One year later in 1997, Banks was the first Black woman to have a solo cover for the issue. Sports Illustrated also included a number of athletes in the photo spreads and insets of their issues, such as Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Steffi Graff, Olympian Amanda Beard and more. But it was Beyoncé’s cover that shifted the magazine in a new direction, one in which Sports Illustrated could capitalize on celebrity and maintain a place in the cultural conversation.
In the years following Beyoncé’s 2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover, further history has been made. In 2021, Megan Thee Stallion became the first rapper and second non-athlete or non-model on the cover of the issue. The same year, Naomi Osaka became the first tennis player on the cover as well as the first person of Asian descent on the cover of the issue. The third cover for the 2021 issue also featured Leyna Bloom, who became the first trans model on the cover.
The 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover featured TV personality Martha Stewart, who became the oldest model to ever appear on the cover at age 81. Singer Kim Petras became the second trans woman to model on the cover, as well. The 2024 issue features longtime journalist Gayle King, whose Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover was presented to her by models and co-cover stars Kate Upton, who boasts four Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition covers, and Hunter McGrady.
See photos from the 2024 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue launch party
