Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Who's who on The Beatles' iconic album cover explained
23 April 2025, 12:49
Mae West, Lenny Bruce and Oscar Wilde, but no Hitler, Gandhi or Jesus.
As well as being one of the best albums of all time, The Beatles' Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band also had one of the most striking covers in pop.
It almost never happened: The band actually already had a cover designed by Dutch group The Fool, but gallery dealer Robert Fraser nudged Paul McCartney to use a "fine artist" instead.
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The iconic Beatles sleeve was designed by pop-artists husband and wife partnership Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, with the photograph snapped by Michael Cooper.
It was apparently the first sleeve to feature printed lyrics and a designed inner bag. Original pressings had an inner sleeve designed by Sion and Marijke of The Fool, who had been bumped late in the day for the actual cover.
It was also one of the first gatefold sleeves, and came with a card of cool Pepper cutouts – Blake's original idea for a packet of badges and pencils would have cost too much.
Supposedly loosely based on some pen and ink sketches by Paul McCartney (though Jann denies this), it features John, Paul and George and Ringo in their full Sgt Pepper garb, backed by over 80 cardboard cutouts and wax models.
"Paul and John said I should imagine that the band had just finished the concert, perhaps in a park," Peter Blake said in the 2009 reissue notes.
"I then thought that we could have a crowd standing behind them, and this developed into the collage idea."
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Remastered 2009)
The band themselves pitched some ideas, with Blake and Fraser filling out the crowd with their own choices.
As you can imagine, it wasn't all straightforward. Wary of legal complaints from living stars, Brian Epstein had his assistant contact everyone who was still around.
Mae West originally declined ('What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club?" she apparently said. The Beatles wrote her a personal letter and she changed her mind.
John Lennon, ever the iconoclast, wanted to have Adolf Hitler, Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi.
EMI understandably said no to the first two (this was shortly after "more popular than Jesus" after all), and despite his original inclusion, Gandhi was painted out.
In front of it all was the world BEATLES made out of flowers.
The Beatles - A Day In The Life
"I hated the idea of lettering, or a graphic designer taking Peter and my artwork and slapping their lettering on it,' Jann told the BBC in 2017.
"We were standing in my studio when that idea came up.... I suggested that as another form of lettering, besides the drum, that would keep the integrity of the cover."
So no Hitler or Gandhi... but who's who on the immortal cover, photographed at Chelsea Manor Studios, Flood Street, London on Thursday, March 30, 1967.
We've broken down the full list, complete with a short description of who they are and why they matter.
1. Sri Yukestawar Giri, guru
An Indian monk and yogi, born Priya Nath Karar. A disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya of Varanasi and a member of the Giribranch of the Swami order, Sri Yukestawar Giri was a Kriya yogi, a Jyotishi and a scholar of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads.
2. Aleister Crowley, dabbler in black-magic
"Do what thou wilt..." occultist Aleister Crowley was, not as frequently described, a Satanist, but instead a self-identified prophet who founded the religion of Thelema.
3. Mae West, actress
Actress, singer, sex symbol and Ms "come up and see me some time", Mae West was a vaudeville icon turned Hollywood legend.
4. Lenny Bruce, comic
One of the all-time great stand-up comedians, Lenny Bruce was also a boundary-pushing iconoclast whose 1964 conviction for obscenity proved just how dangerous the counterculture felt to the establishment of the time.
5. Karlheinz Stockhausen, composer
The "father of electronic music", Karlheinz Stockhausen was one of the most important, interesting and groundbreaking composers of the 20th century.
6. W.C. (William Claude) Fields, comic
Juggler and comic W.C. Fields was another vaudeville star who successfully transitioned into Broadway stardom before taking on the movies, being successful in the silent era and talkies, too.
7. Carl Gustav Jung, psychologist
Up there with with his friend Freud as one of the key figures in psychoanalysis, Carl Jung founded the school of analytical psychology and came up with plenty of concepts still in use today (like introversion and extraversion).
8. Edgar Allen Poe, writer
Writer Edgar Allen Poe was the master of the macabre, known for gothic classics like 'The Raven' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. He would later be namechecked in 'I Am The Walrus' ("Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar-Allan-Poe").
9. Fred Astaire, dancer/actor
With or without his regular partner Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire was simply one of the greatest popular dancers of all time. After establishing himself on stage, it was on screen (Top Hat, Holiday Inn, Funny Face and so many more) that Astaire became an all-time legend.
10. Richard Merkin, artist
Known for his vivid portraits of popular cultural stars, Richard Merkin became a pal of Peter Blake in the summer of 1966, which probably explains his presence on the Pepper sleeve.
"The photograph of me comes from a very early exhibition catalogue of mine," Merkin said. "I sold the photograph ... for [probably] $200. That photograph would be worth $10,000 now!" He wasn't much of a Beatles fan, but said that Pepper grew on him as the years passed.
11. The Vargas Girl, by artist Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas was a Peruvian-American painter famed for his pictures of sexy pin-ups. His subjects like Olive Thomas were dubbed "Vargas Girls".
12. Leo Gorcey, actor – painted out because he requested a fee
Leader of the Dead End Kids (in various roles), the East Side Kids (as Muggs McGinnis) and The Bowery Boys (Slip Mahoney) actor Leo Gorcey was originally on the sleeve, but was painted out after he requested a fee for his inclusion.
13. Huntz Hall, actor, with Leo Gorcey, one of the bowery Boys
Fellow Dead End Kid/Bowery Bowery boy (Horace Debussy 'Sach' Jones) Huntz Hall didn't have the same issues so he's present and correct on the sleeve.
14. Simon Rodia, creator of Watts Towers
The Watts Towers are a remarkable example of outsider art. 17 interconnected sculptural towers, structures and features in Watts, Los Angeles designed and built by one man, Simon Rodia, over a 33-year period.
15. Bob Dylan, musician
You know who Bob Dylan is... it's Bob Dylan! Singer, songwriter, legend, a major influence on Rubber Soul-era Beatles, too.
16. Aubrey Beardsley, illustrator
Illustrator, author and a key figure in the Modern Style movement, Aubrey Beardsley had a major impact before his sad death aged just 25.
17. Sir Robert Peel, politician
Ever wondered why police are called bobbies? They were named after Sir Robert Peel, two-time Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary. It was during his time as Home Secretary that he founded the Metropolitan Police.
18. Aldous Huxley, writer
One of the great 20th century British authors, Aldous Huxley not only wrote the dystopian classic Brave New World, but also the drugged up The Doors of Perception, which is where The Doors got their name.
19. Dylan Thomas, poet
"Do not go gentle into that good night..." Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was not just one of the greatest of the 20th century, despite his early death at the age of 39. He is also a major influence on rock 'n' rollers from Bob Dylan and John Cale to the Manic Street Preachers.
20. Terry Southern, writer
Texan-born Terry Southern was already a famed writer and Swinging London figure by the time he was hired by Stanley Kubrick to work on Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. After Pepper, he worked on Barbarella, Easy Rider, and The Magic Christian, and was hailed as a New Journalism pioneer.
21. Dion (di Mucci), singer
Dion was the frontman of Dion and the Belmonts, before becoming a solo superstar with hits like 'Runaround Sue', 'The Wanderer' and 'Ruby Baby'/ He racked up 39 Top 40 hits before The Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion changed the pop landscape forever
22. Tony Curtis, actor
The Defiant Ones, Some Like It Hot, Spartacus... Tony Curtis was one of the all time greats in the golden age of Hollywood.
23. Wallace Berman, artist
Wally Berman was an experimental filmmaker and collage artist who became a key figure in the Beatnik Hippie movement in California. He even had a small cameo in Easy Rider.
24. Tommy Handley, comic
Born in Liverpool in 1892, Tommy Handley was a comedian best known for the radio programme It's That Man Again.
25. Marilyn Monroe, actress
One of the most famous actors and Hollywood sex symbols of all time. Marilyn Monroe died in August 1962, just a couple of months before The Beatles released their debut single 'Love Me Do'.
26. William Burroughs, writer
A key figure in the Beat generation and one of the most important and controversial writers of the 20th century, William Burroughs was the twisted mind behind Junkie, Naked Lunch and The Nova Trilogy.
27. Sri Mahavatara Babaji, guru
Writer Paramahansa Yogananda brought Himalatan yogi and guru Sri Mahavatara Babaji to public attention in his Autobiography of a Yogi. He taught Kriya Yoga to Lahiri Mahasay.
Babaji would later pop up on Ge
Babaji would later pop up on the cover of George Harrison's 1974 album Dark Horse and inspire Supertramp's 'Babaji'.
28. Stan Laurel, comic
Music hall and panto star turned movie legend, Stan Laurel starred in over 100 short films and features alongside his comedy partner Oliver Hardy.
29. Richard Lindner, artist
German-American painter Richard Lindner's quirky, erotic style was later echoed in The Beatles' Yellow Submarine movie. Lindner's The Couple later popped up in the music video for Bob Dylan's classic 'Jokerman'.
30. Oliver Hardy, comic
We've already mentioned Stan, but you can't have Stan without Ollie. Oliver Hardy was the other half of the iconic comedy double act.
31. Karl Marx, philosopher/socialist
One of the most influential and controversial political thinkers of all time, Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital and, with Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto.
32. H.G. (Herbert George) Wells, writer
HG Wells was one of the fathers of modern science fiction, many of whose books were later turned into hit movies. His works included The World Set Free, The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau and The War of the Worlds.
33. Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, guru
The author of the multi-million selling Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda was a disciple of Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri who was a major figure in bringing yoga to the West.
34. Anonymous, wax hairdressers' dummy
It's a wax dummy. One of two borrowed from a local hairdresser. Not much more to add.
35. Stuart Sutcliffe, artist/former Beatle
A beautiful, tragic figure in Beatles history. Stuart Sutcliffe was a Fifth Beatle who was an actual Beatle. Stu was the original bass player in The Beatles but quit the band in July 1961. He died less than a year later from a cerebral haemorrhage.
36. Anonymous, wax hairdressers' dummy
The other of the hairdressers' dummies making up the numbers on the Pepper cover.
37. Max Miller, comic
Known as The Cheeky Chappie, Max Miller was one of the greatest stand-ups of the era who walked the delicate tightrope of risqué material that was just on the right side of the censors.
38. The Petty Girl, by artist George Petty
A partner to the Vargas Girl was a pin-up from similarly-minded artist George Petty, the Petty Girl. Petty Girls frequently popped up on the noses of warplanes in WWII, including the Memphis Belle.
39. Marlon Brando, actor
The Godfather was still half a decade away, but in 1967 Marlon Brando was already Hollywood royalty. He burst through on Broadway as a disciple of Stanislavski's system and transitioned into cinema with classics like A Streetcar Named Desire and On The Waterfront.
40. Tom Mix, actor
Tom Mix was one of the first Western stars, racking up nearly 300 movie credits, most of which were in the silent era. He later was portrayed in a number of Western-themed comics in the 1940s and 1950s.
41. Oscar Wilde, writer
Irish author and playwright Oscar Wilde's classic works The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest are still being performed and endlessly adapted to this day.
42. Tyrone Power, actor
Tyrone Power was a matinee idol who died young, aged just 44 in 1958. By then he had not just scored major screen success in films like Jesse James, The Mark of Zorro, Marie Antoinette, Blood and Sand and The Black Swan. He also won plaudits for stage roles in John Brown's Body and Mister Roberts.
43. Larry Bell, artist
An artist and sculptor best known for his large illusionistic work and glass boxes, Larry Bell is closely associated with the Light & Space movement.
44. Dr. David Livingstone, missionary/explorer
"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" David Livingstone was a pioneer Christian missionary and explorer in Africa. An anti-slavery campaigner, he was one of the most famous figures of the Victorian age.
45. Johnny Weissmuller, swimmer/actor
A Hungarian-born German American Olympic swimmer, Johnny Weissmuller could have earned his spot on the Pepper cover for his sporting achievements alone. Five Olympic gold medals and a number of world records.
When he retired from the pool, he had a second life as an actor, starring as Tarzan in 12 movies before going on to feature in 16 Jungle Jim films.
46. Stephen Crane, writer
Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is heralded as a pioneering classic of American literary Naturalism. He's best known for his 1895 Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage.
47. Issy Bonn, comic
Born Benjamin Levin, Issy Bonn was a singer, actor and comedian who was a radio superstar who helped bring classics like 'My Yiddishe Momme' to a British audience.
48. George Bernard Shaw, writer
Pygmalion, Man and Superman, Saint Joan... Irishman George Bernard Shaw was one of the all-time great writers and was well wortth his 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature.
49. H. C. (Horace Clifford) Westermann, sculptor
HC Westermann was an American sculptor and printmaker who melded traditional techniques with more modern approaches and pop-culture heavy references, avoiding categorisation.
50. Albert Stubbins, soccer player
Albert Stubbins scored 75 goals in 1959 appearances for Liverpool, winning the League Championship with the club in 1947. He also played for Newcastle United and Ashington.
51. Sri Lahiri Mahasaya, guru
A disciple of Mahavatar Babaji, yogi and guru Lahiri Mahasaya founded the Kriya Yoga school. His life was also described in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi.
52. Lewis Carroll, writer
If he had only written Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, it would have been one heck of a career, but Lewis Carroll also wrote Through the Looking-Glass, Jabberwocky and The Hunting of the Snark.
He was a major influence on Lennon's later Beatles' lyrics, plus an accomplished photographer and mathematician.
53. T. E. (Thomas Edward) Lawrence, soldier, aka Lawrence of Arabia
Immortalised in 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia, TE Lawrence was an officer in the British Army, archaeologist, diplomat and writer
54. Sonny Liston, boxer
The Big Bear, Sonny Liston became the undisputed world heavyweight champion when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round in their 1962 bout. He lost his title in a shock defeat to Muhammad Ali in 1964.
55. The Petty Girl, by artist George Petty
Another pretty Petty Girl by George Petty.
56. Wax Model of George Harrison
It's George Harrison, dummy!
57. Wax Model of John Lennon
A John Lennon waxwork.
58. Shirley Temple, child actress
One of the biggest stars of the 1930s was... a child. Shirley Temple wasn't a child star, she was THE child star.
She was just three years old when she stole the show in Bright Eyes, and won a one-off Juvenile Academy Award in 1935. After retiring from acting she became a diplomat and US Ambassador.
59. Wax Model of Ringo Starr
A waxwork of Ringo Starr. He looks a little sad, apparently a piece of evidence in the Paul is Dead conspiracy,
60. Wax Model of Paul McCartney
The waxwork Paul McCartney puts a comforting arm around Ringo Starr, supposedly yet more evidence of his secret demise.
61. Albert Einstein, physicist
One of the finest scientific minds in history. Albert Einstein developed the theory of relatively and contributed to the science of quantum mechanics. If you only know one equation, it might well be his E=mc².
62. John Lennon, holding a French horn
John Lennon! With a French Horn.
63. Ringo Starr, holding a trumpet
Ringo Starr! (or is it Billy Shears?). With a trumpet
64. Paul McCartney, holding a cor anglais
Paul McCartney. Alive and well with a cor anglais.
65. George Harrison, holding a flute
It's the Quiet Beatle, George Harrison, wielding a flute.
66. Bobby Breen, singer
Bobby Breen was a child singing sensation and movie star in the 1930s.
67. Marlene Dietrich, actress
An absolute icon of cinema. Marlene Dietrich made her name in inter-war year Berlin with her stage performances and silent film roles before transitioning to the talkies.
She is best known for her films with Josef von Sternberg, including The Blue Angel, Morocco and Shanghai Express. After the war she toured live while continuing to make films with the likes of Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Wells, as well as 1961's Judgement at Nuremberg.
68. Mohandas K Gandhi, Indian leader – painted out at the request of EMI
Known as Mahatma Gandhi, a lawyer who successfully used nonviolent resistance to campaign for India's independence from British rule, earning him the title of Father of the Nation. Too controversial a figure for EMI to allow his inclusion.
69. Legionnaire from the Order of the Buffaloes
The Royal Antediluvian Order Of Buffaloes was founded in London 1822. Its motto is "No man is at all times wise". A nod to John's uncle? A cryptic conspiracy clue? Or is it actually just an American Legionnaire? Mystery abounds.
70. Diana Dors, actress
Like fellow Pepper cover star Marilyn Monroe, the Swindon-born Diana Dors was a movie icon and sex symbol when it was all about the blonde bombshells. She also played Adam Ant's Fairy Godmother in the 'Prince Charming' music video.
71. Shirley Temple, child actress
The second of three representations of Temple on the Pepper sleeve.
72. Cloth Grandmother Figure, by Jann Haworth
The co-creator of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, Janen Haworth was a soft sculpture pioneer who added this cloth figure to the sleeve.
73. Cloth Figure of Shirley Temple by Jann Haworth
The third Shirley Temple, this one a cloth doll by Jann Haworth wearing a Welcome The Rolling Stones shirt.
74. Mexican Candlestick
The Beatles wanted singer/actor/comedian Germán Valdés. He suggested instead this Tree of Life ceramic.
75. Television Set
A little nine-inch telly, apparently owned by Paul McCartney.
76. Stone Figure of Girl
We don't know much about this stone figure rounding things out.
77. Stone Figure
And we know even less about this one!
78. Statue from John Lennon's House
We're not sure who this statue is of, but we know it came from Lennon's house Kenwood, in Weybridge, Surrey. It's said to have been used by Peter Blake as the basis for the cut-out of Sgt Pepper
79. Trophy
80. Lakshmi doll
A doll representing Lakshmi, the four-armed Hindu goddess. Lakshmi forms the Tridevi with Parvati and Sarasvati and is the goddess of wealth, prosperity, beauty, fertility and royal power.
Can you see "Paul is Dead' in the flowers below Lakshmi? No, us either.
81. Bass Drum Head, Designed by Joe Ephgrave
Joe Ephgrave was apparently a fairground artist who painted the drumskin designed by Blake and McCartney... but some people claim he never existed and that Ephgrave was a contraction of Epitaph and Grave... because you know, Paul is Dead and all that. Or maybe he was just a fairground artist.
82. Hookah, water tobacco pipe
You might also call a hookah a "shisha" or simply a waterpipe.
83. Velvet Snake
84. Japanese Fukusuke
A Fukusuke is a traditional doll associated with good luck in Japan.
85. Stone Figure of Snow White
An old German fairy tale, first put to paper in the 19th century and Tale 53 in Grimms' Fairy Tales. Snow White has been endlessly adapted, including Disney's beloved 1937 animation Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Disney's reviled 2025 live action remake Snow White.
86. Garden Gnome
Garden gnomes have their roots in old Roman figures, but the modern Gnome probably came from Switzerland and Germany, before being imported into the UK by Sir Charles Isham.
87. Baritone Horn
Or a Tuba? We've stared at pictures of both and are sticking with the Horn.
