jan wenner, One of the founders From the magazine Rolling to forbid, The magazine said on Saturday that it had been removed from the board of directors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, North America’s rock temple, after comments deemed sexist and racist. diverse.
The departure of Fener (77 years old) comes one day after he gave an interview with the newspaper New York times Which sparked several criticisms.
The newspaper asked him why no black artist or woman appeared Gentlemen [“Os Mestres”]In a book that will be published on September 26, Werner responded regarding the women: “None of them expressed themselves in a sufficiently intellectually organized way.”
“Not that they’re not creative geniuses (…). But try having a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin (…). You know, Johnny [Mitchell] I wasn’t a rock ‘n’ roll philosopher. In my opinion she did not meet this criterion. Neither in his work nor in the other interviews he gave. “The people I interviewed were rock philosophers,” he added.
Seven musicians were interviewed for the book: Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bono, Jerry Garcia, Bruce Springsteen and Pete Townshend.
As for black artists, he is the co-founder of Rolling Stone “You know, Stevie Wonder, a genius, right? I think when you use a broad term like ‘masters,’ that’s the wrong word. Maybe Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield? They didn’t express themselves at that level,” he noted.
He continued: “Look at what Pete Townshend, or Jagger, or any of them wrote.” “They wrote profound things about a certain generation, a certain spirit and a certain attitude toward rock ‘n’ roll.”
In the interview with New York timesWeiner said he still knew those comments would upset him. “For the sake of PR, I probably should have included a black female artist and female artist even if she didn’t live up to that historical standard, just to avoid criticism.”
Weiner, in 1967, was one of the founders Rolling Stonehaving also created the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which he chaired until 2020.
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