A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss

Rolling Stone Photo Shoot, Matthew Ralston, Photographer


Rolling Stone, Issue 926, July 3, 2003


We celebrate the third anniversary of this hunkalicious Rolling Stone cover. Okay, maybe hunkalicious is the wrong term. Clay looks like schoolboy in the picture, but we did get only ONE shirt...blown by a fan no less...and skin. Mr. Aiken has told us not to get used to it because it ain't happening again. Hah. I do believe he is almost correct. We rarely get a glimpse of skin. He's pretty careful to cover up, as he is the the king of layering. It's a joke within the fandom that Clay is never caught without his three shirts, maybe two if it's really hot out. Anyway, back to the Rolling Stone cover. It was quite an honor for Clay to get the cover. It was rumored that Rolling Stone gave Clay the cover over winner Ruben Studdard because they felt Clay had the more intriguing story, and the more outgoing personality. I am sure Clay's vocal and large fanbase did not go unnoticed either. Clay had to field some questions on why he got the cover over Ruben, and he was a good soldier spewing the company line that "Ruben was too busy as the winner to pose for Rolling Stone". Yeah right. Ruben eventually did get a cover no doubt due to some back room negotiations along with the stellar sales of Clay's cover as a selling point. Clay and Ruben are the only American Idols to have been on the cover of Rolling Stone to date, so it was quite an honor for both of them. During the recent publicity blitz generated by American Idol, it was revealed that Clay's cover was the best-selling cover of 2003. Not bad for a runner-up.

Video of Rolling Stone Photo Shoot


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