Elle named the Top 25 Fashion Icons in the music industry. They're not all about the music and the high notes, darling.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest style icons of the 1980s, Scottish Eurythmics frontwoman Annie Lennox brought her vampy flair to menswear—or was it the other way around?—with plaid men’s suits, studded leather jackets, and a pop of neon eye shadow.
Beyoncé often steps onto the red carpet in dresses by Cavalli, Armani, or her other favorite designer, her mother, Tina Knowles. But we’ve got to hand it to the girl: She’s still full of surprises. In 2008, she made waves at the MTV Europe Awards when she ditched her usual finery for an edgy, avant-garde dress by Gareth Pugh.
She and her fellow Supremes were instant fashion icons in the ’60s with their thick eyeliner and perfectly fluffed bobs. And after she embarked on her solo career, Ross continued to define Motown glamor with sparkling dresses, lavish gowns, and a diva-size devotion to fashion. During her stint as host of the American Music Awards in 1986 and 1987, she changed her outfit at every commercial break.
Legend has it that in 1967, then-Vogue editor Diana Vreeland discovered Cher backstage at a party for Jacqueline Kennedy. By Cher’s account, Vreeland marched over to her, planted her palm on Cher’s head, and said, “My dear, you have a pointed head! You’re absolutely beautiful!” This was Cher’s baptism into the fashion world. While she and Sonny Bono spearheaded hippie fashion with bell-bottoms, bandanas, and Cherokee-inspired tunics, it was famed photographer Richard Avedon who soon transformed her into the glam icon we know today, later immortalizing her in a beaded and feathered nude gown for the cover ofTime magazine in 1975.
She may have been Jenny from the Block, but now she’s the block’s answer to Grace Kelly. J.Lo’s come to embody Hollywood glamor so ideally that she might as well be the official ambassador of the red carpet. From her plunging Versace décolleté to her love affair with Cavalli, she pulls out all the stops.
She’s had as many different style overhauls as Liza’s had husbands. First there was the thrift-store wardrobe she wore in 1985’sDesperately Seeking Susan. Then there was Jean Paul Gaultier’s gold bustier on the ’90s Blonde Ambition tour, which led to years of wearing underwear as outerwear. The new century welcomed a newly polished and demure Madonna, who looked more content drinking Earl Grey in the countryside than writhing around like a virgin. That phase was followed by Hung Up’s disco dancer, who ditched the tweed for a purple leotard, and then Hard Candy’s tough and tumble glamazon. What the Material Girl’s next transformation will be, we have no idea, but we can’t wait to see.
After Cher retired her wigs, and before Lady Gaga put on her bedazzled Hannibal Lector mask, there was Kylie Minogue. Her concerts have always been spectacles—full of drag-inspired showgirl costumes and an ever-rotating phalanx of helmeted, leather-clad man. Yet on the red carpet, she’s consistently glamorous and feminine.
Björk’s style is as surreal and eclectic as her music. With the feather headdresses, Fruit Loop–color ponchos, and the infamous swan dress, she’s more magical pixie than person. And that’s the way we like her!
Years before Madonna donned her now-famous cone bra on her Blond Ambition tour, the Runaways star Cherie Currie was rocking out onstage in head-to-toe lingerie—garter belts and all!—while her bandmate Joan Jett was decked out in black, from her dyed mop top and raccoon eyes down to her leather boots. But it’s the bright red jumpsuit Jett wore onstage during the Runaways’ 1977 tour of Japan that’s still burned in our retinas.
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