True Blood Rolling Stone cover the latest in a long tradition of skin

Have you seen the cover of the latest Rolling Stone, the one with the True Blood cast members splattered with blood Jackson Pollack style in their birthday suits? It’s attracting quite a bit of attention — and why not? It’s sexy, bloody and, well, it’s sexy and bloody.

But it’s only the most recent in long line of RS covers that have shown lots of skin. Sex sells. Everybody knows this. What’s more, strategic cloaked nudity moves magazines — dinosaurs like Rolling Stone figured this out years ago. The more cynical among us might even say it’s the primarily thing that’s keeping them afloat. Well, that and Matt Taibbi.

Ah, well, suppose that’s a discussion for another day. In the meantime, here’s a rundown of some of the more memorable Rolling Stone covers over the years.