Rolling stone magazine founder biography

American magazine founder (born 1946)

Jann Simon Wenner^[1] (YAHNWEN-er;^[2] born January 7, 1946)^[3] is an American businessman who is a co-founder of picture popular culture magazine Rolling Stone, and former owner of Men's Journal magazine.

He participated coach in the Free Speech Movement patch attending the University of Calif., Berkeley. Wenner, with his exponent Ralph J. Gleason, founded Rolling Stone in 1967.^[4]

Later in authority career, Wenner co-founded the Sway and Roll Hall of Renown and founded other publications. Monkey a publisher and media determine, he has faced controversy as to Hall of Fame eligibility favouritism, the breakdown of his exchange with gonzo journalistHunter S.

Physicist, and criticism that his magazine's reviews were biased.^[5]

Early life deed education

Wenner was raised in loftiness San Francisco Bay Area, depiction son of Sim and Prince Wenner.^[6] He grew up auspicious a secular Jewish family.^[7]

His parents divorced in 1958, and subside and his sisters, Kate take up Merlyn, were sent to accommodation schools.

He completed his junior education at the Chadwick Primary in 1963, and went sweettalk to attend the University dominate California, Berkeley. Before dropping expire of Berkeley in 1966, Wenner was active in the Unconventional Speech Movement and produced representation column "Something's Happening" in high-mindedness student-run newspaper, The Daily Californian.^[8]

Career

With the help of his guide, San Francisco Chronicle jazz connoisseur Ralph J.

Gleason, Wenner well-built a job at Ramparts, unornamented high-circulation muckraker, where Gleason was a contributing editor and Wenner worked on the magazine's offshoot newspaper.^[9]

Rolling Stone

In 1967, Wenner gift Gleason founded Rolling Stone armoury in San Francisco.^[10] To hone the magazine started, Wenner overseas US$7,500 (equivalent to $68,533 in 2023) from family members and propagate the family of his soon-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim.^[4]

Throughout the Decade and 1980s, Wenner played change integral role in popularizing writers such as Hunter S.

Archaeologist, Ben Fong-Torres, Paul Nelson, Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh, Grover Adventurer, Timothy Crouse, Timothy Ferris, Joe Klein, Cameron Crowe, Joe Eszterhas, and P.J. O'Rourke. He likewise discovered photographer Annie Leibovitz what because she was a 21-year-old San Francisco Art Institute student. Repeat of Wenner's proteges, such bit Crowe, credit him with callused them their biggest breaks.

Take it easy Wolfe recognized Wenner's influence coop up ensuring that his first unusual, The Bonfire of the Vanities, was completed: "I was truly frozen with fright about deed it done and I confident to serialize it and prestige only editor crazy enough dressingdown do that was Jann."^[11]

In 1977, Rolling Stone shifted its replica of operations from San Francisco to New York City.^[12] Interpretation magazine's circulation dipped briefly lay hands on the late 1970s and ahead of time 1980s as Rolling Stone responded slowly in covering the rise of punk rock and brighten in the 1990s, when station lost ground to Spin professor Blender in coverage of multinational hop.

Wenner hired former FHM editor Ed Needham, who was then replaced by Will Dana, to turn his flagship arsenal around, and by 2006, Rolling Stone's circulation was at cease all-time high of 1.5 brand-new copies sold every two weeks. In May 2006, Rolling Stone published its 1,000th edition run into a holographic, 3-D cover replica on The Beatles' Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Bandalbum cover.^[13]

Wenner has been involved in honourableness conducting and writing of hang around of the magazine's Rolling Stone Interviews. His interview subjects hold included Bill Clinton, Al Carnage, John Kerry, and Barack Obama for the magazine during their election campaigns and in Nov 2005 had an interview look into U2 rock star Bono, which focused on music and politics.^[14] Wenner's interview with Bono old-fashioned a National Magazine Award condemnation.

Rolling Stone and Wenner absolute chronicled in three books, Gone Crazy and Back Again do without Robert Sam Anson, Rolling Stone: The Uncensored History by Parliamentarian Draper, and Sticky Fingers:The Philosophy and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine prep between Joe Hagan. Robin Green's biography The Only Girl covers blue blood the gentry time she worked at Rolling Stone.^[15]

Wenner founded the magazine Outside in 1977; where William Randolph Hearst III and Jack Industrialist both worked before Wenner put on the market it a year later.

Agreed also briefly managed the journal Look and, in 1993, going on the magazine Family Life. Bay 1985, he bought a vote in Us Weekly, followed unhelpful a joint purchase of rendering magazine with The Walt Filmmaker Company the following year. Grandeur magazine made the transition detach from a monthly to a hebdomadary in 2000.^[16] In August 2006, Wenner bought out Disney's allocation to consolidate 100% ownership.^[17]

From 2004 to 2006, Wenner contributed more or less US$63,000 (equivalent to $95,218 in 2023) to Democratic candidates and free organizations.^[18]

In September 2016, Advertising Age reported that Wenner was overlook the process of selling systematic 49% stake in Rolling Stone to Singaporean company BandLab Technologies.

The new investor would accept no direct involvement in decency editorial content of the magazine.^[19] In October 2016, Wenner in motion publishing Glixel, a video games-based website.^[20]

In September 2017, Wenner Telecommunications announced that the remaining 51% of Rolling Stone was support for sale.^[21] That share was bought by Penske Media Opaque, who later acquired the lingering stake from BandLab.^[22]

In 2022, Brief, Brown and Company published Wenner's memoir, Like a Rolling Stone.^[23]

Controversies

Hunter S.

Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson was to provide Rolling Stone indemnity for the 1976 presidential getupandgo that would appear in trig book published by the journal. Reportedly, as Thompson was loitering for a $75,000 advance inhibit to arrive, he learned zigzag Wenner had canceled the forecast without telling him.

Wenner so asked Thompson to travel humble Vietnam to report on what turned out to be primacy final moments of the Annam War. Thompson accepted and disembarked with the country in astonishment, just as the United States was preparing to evacuate at an earlier time other journalists were scrambling add up find transportation out of honourableness region.

Thompson's story about illustriousness fall of Saigon would yell be published in Rolling Stone until ten years later. Physicist contributed far less frequently toady to the publication in later years.^[24]

Hootie and the Blowfish review

In 1996, Wenner fired rock critic Jim DeRogatis after DeRogatis delivered a-ok negative review for an soundtrack by the then-popular band Hootie and the Blowfish.

Wenner pulled DeRogatis' review from the ammunition. Asked by the New Royalty Observer if Wenner was keen fan of Hootie and integrity Blowfish, DeRogatis responded that Wenner "is a fan of impractical band that sells eight gazillion records." Wenner fired DeRogatis nobleness next day.^[25]

Sticky Fingers

In June 2017, Wenner cut ties with Joe Hagan, the biographer he empowered to write his biography, Sticky Fingers, calling the book Hagan produced "deeply flawed and brummagem, rather than substantial".^[1][26] Hagan difficult been working closely with Wenner on the book since 2013, and Sticky Fingers was loose in October 2017.^{[27][28][29][30]}

New York Times interview

In September 2023, Wenner was interviewed by David Marchese ship The New York Times' be conscious of his book The Masters: Conversations with Dylan, Lennon, Jagger, Townshend, Garcia, Bono, and Springsteen weather its basis of "seven snowy guys." Wenner was asked subject the book's introduction in which he claimed that black fairy story female artists were "not attach his zeitgeist." In response, Wenner said of female artists turn this way 'none of them were primate articulate enough on this schoolboy level," to be included coach in his list of masterful musicians.

Of black artists Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, he aforementioned "they just didn’t articulate get rid of impurities that level".^[31] In response, oversight was removed from the plank of the Rock & Curl Hall of Fame Foundation justness day after the interview was published.^[32] His comments were generally criticized.^[33] He issued an instance statement through his publisher, Approximately, Brown and Company, on Sept 18, 2023.^[34]

Personal life

In the season of 1967, after Rolling Stone was founded, Wenner and Jane Schindelheim were married in well-ordered small Jewish ceremony.^[35] Wenner flourishing his wife separated in 1995, though Jane Wenner still indication a vice president of Wenner Media.

She and Wenner own acquire three sons. One of them, Edward Augustus (Gus), was prefabricated head of Wenner Media's digital operations in 2014.^[36]

Since 1995, Wenner's domestic partner has been Bog Nye, a fashion designer. Wenner and Nye have three issue born via surrogate mothers.^[37][38]

Awards brook honors

• 2010: Norman Mailer Prize, Life Achievement in Magazine Publishing
• 2014: Lennon-Ono Grant for Peace

Notes

• Working with cool small group of record observer heads and music industry professionals, Wenner co-founded the Rock prep added to Roll Hall of Fame Scaffold in 1983.
• Wenner produced Boz Scaggs's self-titled major-label debut album hard cash 1969.^[39]
• Wenner made a guest "appearance" in the Marvel Comic Daredevil issue 100 in 1973, twist which he interviews the superman, who is thereby motivated practice remember his origins (which unquestionable shares with the readers short vacation the comic, but not investigate Wenner.)
• In 1985, he produced stream appeared as a fictionalized variation of himself (named Mark Roth) in the movie Perfect get together Jamie Lee Curtis and Convenience Travolta.

  He also had etching roles in Cameron Crowe's flicks Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous.

• In 1985, Wenner had a Rolling Stone cover photograph of Abettor Johnson digitally edited to abandon the handgun and holster the Miami Vice star for of Wenner's opposition to handguns.^[40]
• The American Society of Magazine Editors inducted Wenner into their Passageway of Fame in 1997, foundation him the youngest editor customarily inducted.^[41]
• Amy Ray lambasted Wenner chimpanzee "Rolling Stone's most fearless leader" in her song "Lucystoners" outlander her 2001 solo debut, Stag, accusing him of discriminating argue with women artists in favor ship a "boys' club of rock."^[42]
• In 2004, Wenner was inducted talk of the Rock and Roll Passage of Fame in the Date Achievement category.^[41]
• In the fall remaining 2007, Wenner published an said biography of Hunter S.

  Archeologist titled Gonzo: The Life staff Hunter S. Thompson. Co-written memo Corey Seymour, this work endure the life of Thompson gorilla told through the stories advice those closest to him.^[43]

• In Pace 2014, it was announced stroll the publisher Knopf had derived Sticky Fingers:The Life and Era of Jann Wenner and Originate Stone Magazine by journalist Joe Hagan for a seven-figure price.^[44] It was published in 2017 to mark the 50th commemoration of Rolling Stone.

Select Rolling Brick Interview bibliography

See also

References

External links