Jann Wenner, who co-founded Rolling Stone journal and likewise was a co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has been faraway from the corridor’s board of administrators after making feedback that had been seen as disparaging towards Black and feminine musicians.
“Jann Wenner has been removed from the Board of Directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,” the corridor mentioned Saturday, a day after Wenner’s feedback had been printed in a New York Times interview.
A consultant for Wenner, 77, didn’t instantly reply for a remark.
Wenner created a firestorm doing publicity for his new e book “The Masters,” which options 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 interview ladies or Black musicians, Wenner responded: “It’s not that they’re inarticulate, although, go have a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest. You know, Joni (Mitchell) was not a philosopher of rock ’n’ roll. She didn’t, in my mind, meet that test,” he advised the Times.
“Of Black artists — , Stevie Wonder, genius, proper? I suppose if you use a phrase as broad as ‘masters,’ the fault is utilizing that phrase. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I imply, they only didn’t articulate at that stage,” Wenner mentioned.
Wenner co-founded Rolling Stone in 1967 and served as its editor or editorial director till 2019. He additionally co-founded the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which was launched in 1987.
In the interview, Wenner appeared to acknowledge he would face a backlash. “Just for public relations sake, possibly I ought to have gone and located one Black and one lady artist to incorporate right here that didn’t measure as much as that very same historic normal, simply to avert this sort of criticism.”
Last yr, Rolling Stone journal printed its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and ranked Gaye’s “What’s Going On” No. 1, “Blue” by Mitchell at No. 3, Wonder’s “Songs in the Key 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 magazines was an outgrowth of Wenner’s outsized pursuits, a combination of authoritative music and cultural protection with robust investigative reporting.
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