PEOPLE Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive From 1990 to 2019 | The Magazine Explains What Goes Behind Choosing This Title Every Year

Every year since 1985, PEOPLE magazine has picked one star amongst many as the sexiest man alive. Needless to mention, it is a much-coveted title and a rare feather that graces the hat of an actor/artist, who has proved himself to be an outstanding candidate.

Mel Gibson was the magazine's first "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1985. In the following years, some of the most popular celebrities in the world have graced the magazine's special cover, including George Clooney (twice!), Tom Cruise , Adam Levine, Idris Elba, Brad Pitt (twice!) and the list goes on.

"People is really trying to inspire people to make a difference in the world and do good through our content," Editor-in-Chief Dan Wakeford explained CNN. The "Sexiest Man" is a person of character, Wakeford said, but they also consider someone "Who is hot, who is doing really well, and who actually is sexy."

How is "he" chosen?

"There are so many different variables and ways of approaching it," Wakeford said. "A starting point often is, when we want to make a decision, is to think about the zeitgeist, think about what is sexy at the moment. What do people find appealing at the moment?" Next is looking at what concepts will make sense visually.

"Do we find them sexy?" Wakeford explained.

They also conduct polls through their publication and filter the data. "We did look at data," Wakeford said. "We have more than 90 million consumers a month stepping into the People brand, so we've got a lot of data at our fingertips."

How many candidates are considered?

"We're considering everyone to begin with," Wakeford said. "We send calls out to consumers and focus groups, working out who people find sexy. There's a lot of people on that initial research."

Let's get right into the list and introduce you to all the "sexiest men alive" from 1990—2019, according to PEOPLE magazine.

1990: Tom Cruise

1991: Patrick Swayze

1992: Nick Nolte

1993: Richard Gere

1994: The only year when the title was not awarded to anyone.

1995: Brad Pitt

1996: Denzel Washington

1997: George Clooney

1998: Harrison Ford

1999: Richard Gere

2000: Brad Pitt

2001: Pierce Brosnan

2002: Ben Affleck

2003: Johnny Depp

2004: Jude Law

2005: Matthew McConaughey

2006: George Clooney

2007: Matt Damon

2008: Hugh Jackman

2009: Johnny Depp

2010: Ryan Reynolds

2011: Bradley Cooper

2012: Channing Tatum

2013: Adam Levine

2014: Chris Hemsworth

2015: David Beckham

2016: Dwayne Johnson

2017: Blake Shelton

2018: Idris Elba

2019: John Legend

References

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/14/entertainment/how-people-sexiest-man-alive-is-chosen/index.html

https://www.thewrap.com/people-sexiest-man-alive-mel-gibson-dwayne-johnson-idris-elba/