John Lennon and Yoko Ono

On Dec. 8, 1980, Annie Leibovitz met Lennon and Ono at their New York apartment building. There, she photographed the famous couple for the cover of Rolling Stone.

"John took his clothes off in a few seconds, but Yoko was very reluctant,” Leibovitz later told Rolling Stone. “She said, 'I'll take my shirt off but not my pants.' I was kinda disappointed, and I said, 'Just leave everything on.' We took one Polaroid, and the three of us knew it was profound right away."

But the image took on another level of tragic profundity later that evening, when Lennon was murdered on his way home from the recording studio.