Hugh Syme

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Hugh Syme is a graphic artist who is best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has appeared in some Rush songs as a keyboard player. Syme is notably responsible for all of Rush's album cover art since 1975's Fly By Night as well as creating Rush's famous Starman logo. He has said on several occasions that he never imagined the band would use it as their main logo.^{[citation needed]}

Iron Maiden fans remember him best as the designer of The X Factor cover, which shows the band's mascot Eddie the Head dissected. It is remembered for its gritty realism. Whereas all previous Maiden albums were oil paintings, the "X Factor" Eddie was a puppet with some digital touch-ups to enhance its look. In some countries the cover was considered so gruesome that a less gory alternative was offered (the alternative cover is actually the back of the original CD booklet).

Syme also co-designed the album cover for Def Leppard's Retro Active, in which a photograph of a woman sitting by a dressing table with a mirror can also be seen in an angle as a giant skull.

Other bands he has done artwork for include Klaatu, Extol, Megadeth, Nevermore, Stone Sour, Styx, Fates Warning, Whitesnake, Queensryche, Aerosmith, and Dream Theater.