Iconic CD Covers

Nirvana released their second album, Nevermind, which unleashed grunge upon the mainstream and changed rock and roll forever. While the music was certainly groundbreaking, so was the record’s cover art: it showed a naked, 4-month-old, submerged in water, swimming towards a dollar bill attached to a fish hook. Back in 1992, EW got the inside story of how the iconic image came together through interviews with the photographer and art director.The image has been interpreted by fans as a metaphor for Nirvana, a neophyte band being reeled in by corporate rock’s big bucks. But according to Geffen Records art director Robert Fisher, Nirvana’s lead singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain had seen a documentary on babies being born underwater, and “thought the image would make a cool cover. That vision was a bit too graphic, so we went with the swimming baby instead.”