A famous music journalist who serves as a board member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been kicked out for making comments that disrespected the abilities of women and black singers.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 17th that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had expelled Jan Wenner, founder of American music magazine Rolling Stone, from its board of directors the day before.
The reason Wenner, who had considerable influence in the rock music industry and participated in the establishment of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was expelled was due to an interview he gave with the New York Times prior to the publication of an interview book titled ‘The Masters’.
NYT asked Wenner why the book only included interviews with white male singers, including Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, and Bono. When asked why he did not speak out with female singers, Wenner said, “The singers I interviewed in this book are people who have a philosophy about rock.” He then mentioned Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell and replied, “Isn’t she the philosopher of rock and roll?”
He also mentioned the names of legendary female singers such as Janis Joplin and Grace Slick and said, “If you want, try having a deep conversation with them.” The intention was that an in-depth interview was impossible.
Wenner also showed discriminatory attitudes toward black singers, although it was not as clear as for female singers. He said that the interview book he wrote, as the title suggests, is a conversation with ‘rock and roll greats’ and that there are no black singers who meet the standard.
Wenner explained, “It would have been possible to interview Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield, but their classification is not clear enough (to the level of rock and roll greats).” Marvin Gaye is Motown’s legendary soul singer-songwriter, and Curtis Mayfield is a musician who was active as a singer-songwriter and guitarist while crossing soul, rhythm, and blues (R&B), and funk.
When Wenner’s interview was published in the NYT, criticism spread online. Although Wenner belatedly issued an apology, saying, “This collection of interviews was about rock music that personally influenced me and not about the variety of rock music in general,” he was unable to avoid the disgrace of being expelled from the Hall of Fame.
He founded Rolling Stone in 1967 and served as its editor-in-chief.