Launch The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Space and Aim It Into the Sun
Jann Wenner’s words — and actions — expose decades-long toxic gatekeeping in rock music.
An interview published in The New York Times on September 15th featured Jann Wenner, founder of the boomer mainstay Rolling Stone magazine and co-founder (and now former board member, as he was fired — you’ll see why shortly) of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Wenner recently published The Masters, featuring his interviews with white male rock artists (U2’s Bono, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, and Pete Townshend). If you see something weird about the roster of interviews in this book, you are perceptive — no women or Black music icons are interviewed in The Masters. The New York Times’ David Marchese artfully allowed Wenner to torpedo himself and asked why women and Black artists weren’t considered “philosophers of rock” (Wenner’s words). Here’s what happened next:
Marchese (naming million-selling, influential women artists): Carole King, Madonna. There are a million examples.
Wenner: When I was referring to the zeitgeist, I was referring to Black performers, not to the female performers, OK? Just to get that accurate. The selection was not a deliberate selection. It was kind of intuitive over the years; it just fell together that way. The people…
