When Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner reflects on musical legends in his new book, “The Masters,” he’s only referring to white artists, namely Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Jerry Garcia, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen.
Any mention of culturally iconic women or Black legends won’t be found because, well, according to the author, they are articulately inferior to his personal Mount Rushmore of rock stars. The literary effort is a collection of interviews, new and old, and photographs of the aforementioned seven men and their cultural impact on the genre. Wenner, who left Rolling Stone in 2019, said his process of choosing which artists he would highlight was “intuitive” and a byproduct of “my personal interest and love of them” in a New York Times interview.
“The people I interviewed were the kind of philosophers of rock,” he said. “Insofar as the women, just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level … 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,” he continued.
“It was kind of intuitive over the years; it just fell together that way. The people had to meet a couple criteria, but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them,” said the veteran publisher. He doubled down on his stance, adding, “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. Which, I get it.”
Wenner is also among the six founders of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The institution, though revered by artists across genres, has been criticized for its minimal inclusion of Black talent. In May, 37 years into the HOF’s existence, Missy Elliott became the first Black female rapper to be inducted. Other notable hip hop inductees include LL Cool J, JAY-Z, Run-DMC, Eminem, The Notorious B.I.G., and Tupac Shakur. The Class of 2024’s inductees will be announced in May.
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