Rolling Stone magazine co-founder axed from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame board

Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner has always played an important role in popular music, especially rock 'n' roll.

However, his time as a board member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a museum he helped create, has come to an end following some sexist and racist comments.

The American magnate suggested no female or black artists were "articulate" enough to be included in his new book about the "philosophers of rock."

Instead the book profiles seven white male artists. 

Wenner suggested: "Insofar as the women, just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level... It’s not that they’re not creative geniuses."

The New York Times quizzed the 77-year-old, who previously came out as gay after decades of marriage, about the lack of diversity in the list of musicians he profiled in his book The Masters.

Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Jerry Garcia, Bono and Bruce Springsteen are all white men, who Wenner stressed could "really articulate" their philosophy.

The businessman said he couldn't think of any women who were "articulate enough" to be considered among the seven men, and that black artists like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield "just didn’t articulate at that level" either. 

Wenner added his all-male selection was "not deliberate" but "just fell together that way," saying: "The people had to meet a couple of criteria, but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them."

On female artists not making the cut, he explained: "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 continued: "Not by her work, not by other interviews she did. The people I interviewed were the kind of philosophers of rock."

Speaking on Black artists, Wenner said: "You know, Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I suppose when you use a word as broad as 'masters,' the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level."

Wenner knew his remarks would agitate some and suggested he should have included a token black or female artist in his book.

He said: "Just for public relations' sake, maybe I should have gone and found one Black and one woman artist to include here that didn't measure up to that same historical standard, just to avert this kind of criticism."

As a result, he was axed from the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - which he co-founded in 1987, and presided over as chairman until 2020. 

According to Variety, a short statement from the foundation, said: "Jann Wenner has been removed from the board of directors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation."

Wenner then apologized through his publisher, Little, Brown and Company, hours after the interview was published. 

He wrote: "In my interview with The New York Times I made comments that diminished the contributions, genius and impact of Black and women artists and I apologize wholeheartedly for those remarks."

"I totally understand the inflammatory nature and badly chosen words and deeply apologize and accept the consequences."

Wenner co-founded Rolling Stone magazine in 1967, and for decades, he critiqued and celebrated many rock legends in lengthy interviews.

The Masters has been called "a remarkable collection of new and collected interviews with the greatest rock stars and cultural icons of our time."