Black Stars was a monthly magazine published by the Johnson Publishing Company, one of the largest African-American-owned publishing firms in the United States.
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| Black Stars magazine covers in the 1970s |
Launched in 1971, the purpose of Black Stars was to provide an entertainment magazine focused almost solely on the careers of living black artists. In their premier issue John H. Johnson outlined the aims of the magazine:
“Black Stars will be entertaining, informative, factual, intimate and lively and will deal almost exclusively with the lives and careers of great, living black entertainers. Many of the articles featured in the magazine will be written by the stars themselves.”
In publication ceased in 1981, according to the then vice-president of the publishing company, June A. Rhinehart, this was due to a drop in readership and decrease in advertising revenues. Here below is a set of amazing photos that shows covers of the Black Stars in the 1970s.
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| James Brown, October 1972 |
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| Bill Withers, August 1974 |
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| Bobby Womack, May 1974 |
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| The O'Jays, December 1974 |
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| Tina Turner, January 1974 |
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| Aretha Franklin, August 1975 |
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| Stevie Wonder, April 1975 |
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| The Jackson Family, September 1975 |
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| Johnnie Taylor, August 1976 |
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| Mary McCreary, March 1976 |
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| Michael Jackson, November 1976 |
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| Dionne Warwick and Isaac Hayes, May 1977 |
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| Gladys Knight and Barry Hankerson, January 1977 |
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| Jim Brown, September 1977 |
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| Pam Grier, November 1977 |
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| Tina Andrews, March 1977 |
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| Al Green, May 1978 |
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| Billy Dee Williams, September 1978 |
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| Chaka Khan, May 1978 |
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| Deniece Williams & Johnny Mathis, June 1978 |
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| Natalie Cole, February 1978 |
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| Ashford & Simpson, December 1979 |
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| Donna Summer, November 1979 |
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| Peaches and Herb, July 1979 |
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| Tina Turner, February 1979 |