Rolling Stone Founder Jann Wenner Removed From Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Board For Controversial Remarks

After more than two decades as part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, Jann Wenner will no longer serve on the Board of Directors.

Wenner is best known for founding Rolling Stone magazine and co-founding the Hall of Fame in New York.

The foundation released a statement on Saturday: "Jann Wenner has been removed from the Board of Directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation."

But according to TMZ, he was booted out. Their source revealed that the decision was taken by other board members in an official vote. Surprisingly, only one person opposed; Jon Landau being the sole dissenter.

This comes in response to a New York Times interview on Friday, 77-year-old Wenner has made a decision regarding his recently published book entitled "Masters" from Little, Brown and Company. This particular publication has encountered critiques concerning its scope of coverage.

Throughout his prolific career at Rolling Stone, Wenner has had the opportunity to speak with some of music history's most iconic figures.

In his introduction, Wenner acknowledges that neither people of color nor female musicians are represented in his book. He explains that they simply don't feature within his current "zeitgeist."

He told the NYT, "When I was referring to the zeitgeist, I was referring to Black performers, not female performers, OK? Just to get that accurate."

"The selection was not deliberate. It was intuitive over the years; it just fell together that way. The people had to meet a couple of criteria, but my interest and love for them was just mine. Insofar as the women, none were as articulate enough on this intellectual level."

When asked, Wenner made it clear that it's not that [females] lack creativity or intelligence.

"Though, go ahead and discuss with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin - I dare you. Joni did not fulfill the criteria of being a philosopher in the realm of rock 'n' roll - at least from my perspective."

Wenner went on to say that in her research and conversations he had with Joplin, she spoke of specific musicians as the "philosophers of rock."

"We discussed acts like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Curtis Mayfield. Of course, they're all incredible artists, but to call them 'masters' may have been too grand a title. None could quite reach that kind of elevated level of articulation."

Justifying his selection process, Wenner acknowledged that it was based on intuition. He stated, "I should have chosen one African American and one female artist for public relations purposes, even though they did not meet the same historical standard." Nevertheless, this idea was disregarded in favor of only choosing the most talented.

Although he understood, he would prefer to take a more traditional path, Wenner confessed.

"It's too late now, but I regret not interviewing either Marvin Gaye or Otis Redding in the past. Perhaps one of them could have been the perfect choice for something special."

In 1983, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was launched by a group of individuals intending to recognize and honor rock 'n' roll. One among them was Jann Wenner, who was inducted as a non-performer in 2004.

Since its inauguration in 1986, this foundation has honored various musicians. After a long service, Wenner stepped down in 2020 and was replaced by Sykes as chairman.