Meet Your Cover Model: Ciara

The singer’s extensive career is matched by ongoing philanthropic efforts.

There’s no doubt Ciara is a bona fide star. While she got her start as a singer, the 36-year-old has proven time and time again that her talents extend way beyond the music industry. She’s not only sold 23 million records but also proved her acting, modeling, producing, designing and writing chops since bursting onto the scene in 2004. Yes, multi-hyphen doesn’t even begin to describe Ciara’s talent. And now she can add SI Swimsuit cover model to her impressive résumé.

View Ciara’s Full 2022 Gallery

Ciara was photographed for the 2022 issue by Ben Watts in Barbados, posing on the stunning white sand beach. Celebrity hairstylist Cesar DeLeon Ramirez was in charge of perfecting those perfect beachy locks, while stylist Kollin Carter ensured she was outfitted to perfection.

But what we are most struck by is that Ciara’s extensive career is matched by an even bigger heart. In addition to her prominent entertainment credits, the mom of three dedicates her time to nonprofit work. In 2014, along with her husband, Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, she founded the Why Not You Foundation, which works to fight poverty through education and has programming to empower youth to lead.

“Ciara has seen enormous success as a performer while simultaneously focusing on her passion for philanthropy and service,” says SI Swimsuit editor in chief MJ Day.

Ciara was photographed by Ben Watts in Barbados. Bodysuit by Mugler.

Ciara is one of four women on the issue’s cover this year—the other three are model/recording artist Yumi Nu, model/author Maye Musk and pop culture icon Kim Kardashian—to headline one of the most diverse issues in the magazine’s history.

“The journey we’ve been on—to break out of the mold the world put us in—may sound familiar,” says Day. “It’s certainly familiar to the women we’ve chosen to be our cover models: Maye, Ciara, Yumi, Kim. So in this issue, we encourage readers to see these models as we see them: multifaceted, multitalented—and sexy while they’re at it.”

Day adds, “The world may label them one way, but we want to focus our lens on all the ways they see themselves and how they own who they are. No matter your age, whether you’re a new mom, partner, sister, entertainer, athlete, entrepreneur, advocate, student, mentor, role model, leader or dreamer—or all of the above—we want to celebrate these women, their evolution and the many dimensions of who they are.”

Ciara was photographed by Ben Watts in the Domincan Republixc. 

You can view the 2022 photo shoot for Kim Kardashian here.

You can view the 2022 photo shoot for Ciara here.

You can view the 2022 photo shoot for Yumi Nu here.

You can view the 2022 photo shoot for Maye Musk here.