Jann Wenner, who co-started Rolling Stone journal and also was a co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has been removed from the hall’s board of administrators following earning opinions that were found as disparaging toward Black and female musicians.
“Jann Wenner has been eliminated from the Board of Administrators of the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame Basis,” the hall explained Saturday, a day after Wenner’s reviews ended up printed in a New York Situations interview.
A representative for Wenner, 77, did not straight away respond for a comment.
Wenner developed a firestorm carrying out publicity for his new guide “The Masters,” which capabilities interviews with musicians Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend and U2’s Bono — all white and male.
Asked why he did not job interview women of all ages or Black musicians, Wenner responded: “It’s not that they’re inarticulate, despite the fact that, go have a deep dialogue with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Be sure to, be my guest. You know, Joni (Mitchell) was not a thinker of rock ’n’ roll. She didn’t, in my brain, meet that examination,” he explained to the Instances.
“Of Black artists — you know, Stevie Question, genius, proper? I suppose when you use a phrase as wide as ‘masters,’ the fault is making use of that word. Probably Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I indicate, they just did not articulate at that level,” Wenner stated.
Wenner co-launched Rolling Stone in 1967 and served as its editor or editorial director right up until 2019. He also co-established the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which was launched in 1987.
In the job interview, Wenner appeared to admit he would deal with a backlash. “Just for community relations sake, maybe I should have absent and observed just one Black and one particular girl artist to include below that did not measure up to that exact same historic regular, just to avert this type of criticism.”
Last calendar year, Rolling Stone magazine posted its 500 Biggest Albums of All Time and rated Gaye’s “What’s Going On” No. 1, “Blue” by Mitchell at No. 3, Wonder’s “Songs in the Critical of Life” at No. 4, “Purple Rain” by Prince and the Revolution at No. 8 and Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” at No. 10.
Rolling Stone’s area of interest in publications was an outgrowth of Wenner’s outsized interests, a mixture of authoritative music and cultural coverage with difficult investigative reporting.
