Who illustrated the cover of 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll' (1974) and how it plays off the title

The cover of The Rolling Stones’ 1974 album It’s Only Rock ’n Roll was painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert, who had already made waves with David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs cover the same year. Peellaert’s style was hyper-detailed, almost photo-realistic, but with a surreal, dreamlike tilt—he crammed the band into a chaotic stage scene where instruments, a pair of giant boots, and other objects float or lean at odd angles.

The genius of the cover is how it undercuts the album’s title. “It’s Only Rock ’n Roll” sounds like a shrug, a dismissal of the genre’s pretensions—but Peellaert gave them a lavish, over-the-top fantasy. The scene is elaborate, even ridiculous: Mick Jagger lounges among scattered props, while the