Since 1964, Pirelli has produced an annual calendar filled with images of fashion and music’s biggest icons, shot by the likes of Paolo Roversi, Tim Walker, Peter Lindbergh, and Annie Leibovitz. Over the last few years, we’ve seen Walker and Edward Enninful spotlight Black excellence with Naomi Campbell and RuPaul; Reversi transform Rosalía, Indya Moore, and Kristen Stewart into Romeo and Juliet characters; and Lindbergh release a completely unretouched version.
This year’s calendar, titled On the Road, stars some of music’s most recognisable talent: Cher, Grimes, Jennifer Hudson, Normani, Rita Ora, Bohan Phoenix, Iggy Pop, St. Vincent, Kali Uchis, and Saweetie.
Shot by musician and photographer Bryan Adams at The Palace Theatre in Los Angeles and in Capri, Italy – 2022’s calendar is a celebration of music legends and their lives on tour. Across the images, Normani rests before sound check, Cher poses in a green room, Grimes sings in a recording studio, Saweetie checks out of her hotel, and Iggy Pop is covered in glitter pre-show.
“It would be very, very hard to encapsulate everything that happens on the road in a couple of days,” said Adams, who has spent over 45 years on tour. “So what I tried to do was to represent some of the aspects of it.”
He continued: “Musicians never really see the front of the building, they see the back of the building, we see the stage door, we see the backstage area, we see the basement of a building… you go from the stage door to the car door to the hotel door to the train door to the bus door… it’s always about travelling.”
Besides marking Pirelli’s 150th anniversary, this year’s calendar celebrates the return to normalcy post-pandemic. “We thought his idea of coupling the world of music with that of the road and travel would be perfect for a calendar that is making its comeback as we seek a gradual return to normality after the pandemic,” said Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli’s executive vice chairman and CEO.
Last year, Pirelli decided to cease the production of its 2021 calendar – instead choosing to donate €100,000 to the vaccine effort.
Swipe through this year’s images above, and when you’re done, check out some BTS photos from the shoot here.