Smile for the little birdie

We've truly arrived. Or at least, Ellen DeGeneres has. Her 1997 Time cover shot, paired with the simple phrase, "Yep, I'm gay," came in at number 37 in the top magazine covers of the last 40 years. This as declared by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

What's number one? "On what would be the last day of his life, John Lennon posed for photographs with Yoko Ono in a session with photographer Annie Liebovitz. One of the pictures, a naked Lennon curled around and kissing a clothed Ono, became the cover for Rolling Stone magazine's tribute to him. That iconic image published a month after his December 1980 death has been ranked the top magazine cover," it sez here.

DeGeneres may dance to her own tune, but she walked into the damned ballroom. And she's loved for it.

Photog Liebovitz is also someone lesbians demand a piece of -- though I wouldn't call her loved.

Recall the anger over Susan Sontag's "inning" in mainstream media obits. Were she and Liebovitz a couple? Or did Liebovitz indeed dump the Brainy One for the nanny, as gossip once had it? Certainly the pair knew each other for a very long time. And neither was nor is veddy public about their sexuality; I dunno about proud.

Unfortunately, the exalted collection of covers doesn't include the photographers' names, so I dunno if Liebovitz only appears once. She is one of continent's best picture snappers, found regularly in Vanity Fair, for example. Find the complete list o' winners here.

Boys may be interested to discover that Andy Warhol made it twice -- for Esquire in May 1969, and for a pose on the front of the December 1972 Interview. Now there was an out public figure.


ADDED Wednesday: Bert Archer just e-mailed that Annie L took the top two spots, as she shot the stunning preggers-Demi-Moore pic that in came in second.