The model whose face (and penis) grace the cover of one of the most iconic rock albums of all time — Nirvana’s 1991 release Nevermind — jumped back into the pool recently to mark the album’s 25th anniversary.
But, this time, Spencer Elden wore swim trunks.
Photographer John Chapple told iHeartRadio.ca he laughed when Elden offered to pose nude like he was in the original image.
“I didn’t know any publication that would use pictures of his junk,” he said.
Chapple said Elden wasn’t the only one who thought he should let it all hang out.
“During the shoot, a few old ladies using the swimming lanes shouted that he should be naked,” Chapple recalled. “I told them it would be $20 a head. They didn’t take us up on the offer though.”
Chapple and Elden recreated the famous image in a pool at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, where the original photograph was taken by Kirk Weddle in 1991.
Elden was only four months old when his father Rick put him naked into the pool for Weddle, who was a friend.
Too young to swim, baby Spencer managed to tread water long enough for the picture to be snapped. (The dollar bill hanging from a fishing hook was digitally added later.)
Elden’s parents collected $200 for the use of his image. Today, he’s an artist living with his mother and driving a Honda Civic.
Nevermind has sold more than 30 million copies around the world.
Chapple — who also recreated the image with Elden in 2008 — said he didn’t realize the album and Elden were celebrating 25 years until he was contacted by a publication in Colombia in mid-September.
“With fresh interest, I thought, let’s see old he looks now.”
Spencer Elden, the baby on Nirvana's Nevermind, recreates album cover 25 years later. pic.twitter.com/E3c6tYY2bo
— Eric Alper (@ThatEricAlper) September 24, 2016