Madonna on Vogue magazine front covers in the US and UK, dating back to 1989

'Madonna at home' on the cover of US Vogue, May 1989. Editor Anna Wintour was told the cover would not sell	British Vogue beat the US edition in having a Madonna photograph for its front cover four months earlier, February 1989

I've been looking through some old Vogue covers. I reckon this is the first Madonna Vogue cover in the US edition, dated May 1989.

Fashion Indie noted a while back that editor Anna Wintour says she was told '[Madonna will] never sell', but, in fact, newsstand sales rose 40% with the photo shoot. Strange that Wintour hadn't checked with Liz Tilberis, her successor at the British sister magazine – 'Brogue' – which had run this Madonna Vogue cover in February

Of course, Madonna has a reputation that has seen her described as having the 'world's most exploited belly button' and she vies with Joan Collins and Kate Moss as the biggest magazine cover star.

Yet neither of these Madonna Vogue covers can claim to be the first magazine to carry a Madonna photograph cover, because Madonna Louise Ciccone, to use her full name, had appeared on magazine front covers as early as February 1984 in Britain.

The first Vogue cover under Liz Tilberis was of Naomi Campbell – that model's first appearance on the front of the fashion magazine.

One thing you'll notice is that Madonna seem to reinvent herself for every cover shoot, as you'll see from the first Madonna magazine covers in February 1984. Her first album, Madonna had come out in July 1983. Like a Virgin was released at the end of 1984.

No 1 magazine beat Smash Hits to the first Madonna cover (4 Feb 1984). Madonna was 25

This Smash Hits cover came out two weeks after No 1's. Desperately Seeking Susan came out a year later