Canadian model Paula Turnbull was featured on the cover of both RUSH’s 1980 “Permanent Waves” album and their 1981 follow-up “Exit… Stage Left”.

Canadian model Paula Turnbull is the windswept woman in the red dress on Rush’s 1980 album Permanent Waves.

The cover was a cover conceived by art director Hugh Syme. The shot of Turnbull was photographed by Fin Costello & composited onto an archival image of the Galveston Seawall during 1961’s Hurricane Carla by photojournalist Flip Schulke, creating the famous scene of calm in the middle of chaos.

Turnbull’s time with Rush didn’t end at Permanent Waves: she also appears on the cover of the band’s 1981 live album Exit… Stage Left, tying the group’s most iconic late-’70s/early-’80s imagery together across two releases.

The Permanent Waves sleeve is a great snapshot of how Rush approached visuals: sly puns and layered references (note the cheeky “Dewey Defeats Truman” newspaper) crafted meticulously, and well before digital tools!

Syme’s team literally cut and pasted multiple negatives to build the final image. It’s one of rock’s most memorable covers, and Turnbull’s leggy performance at its center is a big reason why.