A tribute to the album's staying power, readers of "Rolling Stone" ranked "Frampton Comes Alive" No. 3 in a 2012 poll of all-time favourite live albums. The article's text stated, "He was loved by teenage girls, "and" their older brothers. He owned the year 1976 like nobody else in rock." The success of "Frampton Comes Alive!" put him on the cover of "Rolling Stone," in a famous shirtless photo by Francesco Scavullo. Frampton later said he regrets the photo because it changed his image as a credible artist into a teen idol.