Who published Rolling Stone, which has guided the music industry since 1967?

Jan Wenner, the founder and owner of Rolling Stone magazine, defined the modern, set the trends, and set the direction of culture in the 1960s and 70s. Founded in 1967, Rolling Stone has been one of the agenda-setters of the music world.

Jann Simon Wenner (born January 7, 1946) is the co-founder of the biweekly music and politics magazine Rolling Stone, as well as the former owner of Men's Journal and Us Weekly.

Jann Simon Wenner (born January 7, 1946) is an American magazine magnate who is a co-founder of the popular culture magazine Rolling Stone, and former owner of Men's Journal magazine. He participated in the Free Speech Movement while attending the University of California, Berkeley. Wenner, with his mentor Ralph J. Gleason, co-founded Rolling Stone in 1967.

Wenner Media, which made a widespread exit from the print media, sold Men's Journal and Us Weekly to American Media in 2017. The same year, Rolling Stone magazine also changed hands.

Jan Wenner is now semi-retired. But his lifestyle and brain luckily still haven't calmed down yet. His memoirs, which he named 'Like a Rolling Stone', were released on September 13, 2022.

Wenner, who says that Rock and Roll at the time the magazine started to be published is now over, says that it will end like jazz and will never come back.

The political and social stance of the magazine, which also featured musicians such as Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, who died at the age of 28, John Lennon, one of the founders of the British music legend Beatles, and Lady Gaga, with six Grammy winners, on its cover, and also signed iconic portrait photographs, was often at the forefront.

Rolling Stone is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. Penske Media Corporation is the current owner of Rolling Stone, having purchased 51 percent of the magazine in 2017 and the remaining 49 percent in 2020. Noah Shachtman became the editor-in-chief in 2021.

Before the 2008 Global Crisis, one of the Rolling Stone writers, Matt Taibbi, used the description for the international bank Goldman Sachs that "the vampire squid is wrapped in humanity's face and squeezing its bloodsucking pipe into anything that smells of money".

In July 2010, journalist Michael Hastings' article titled 'The General Escaped', which made heavy accusations against General Stanley A. McChyrstal, the Commander of the United States Forces in Afghanistan, sparked controversy in the White House.

Here are some legendary cover articles from Rolling Stone magazine

November 1967

Although Rolling Stone magazine began its publishing life as a music magazine in the late 1960s, it expanded its field of interest and focus in subsequent issues and began to appeal to a wider audience. The founder and editor of the magazine, Jann Wenner, while describing Rolling Stone, mentions that the magazine is not only a music magazine, but also a publication that includes all the behaviors and attitudes that music touches. The cover of the first issue of the magazine was reserved for John Lennon. Lennon, who has become one of the most important symbols of world peace with his music and transmissions, appeared before us as a soldier contrary to what we are used to. Rolling Stone featured John Lennon with Gripweed, the character he portrayed in the 1967 Richard Lester-directed movie How I Won the War.

John Lennon & Yoko Ono

January 1981

John Lennon's friendship with Jann Wenner enabled Lennon to form a different bond with Rolling Stone. John shared most of the unknown and curious details about his career with the magazine. The first statement he made after the breakup of the Beatles was also published in Rolling Stone. The issue of the magazine to be published on January 22, 1981 marked an important breaking point both for the history of the magazine and for the music world. For the cover shoot, Annie Leibovitz broke into John Lennon and Yoko Ono's New York apartment and asked them to take off their clothes as a reference to their 1968 Rolling Stone cover. Only one accepted the proposal. This shot was Lennon's last photo shoot. A few hours after the shooting, Mark was shot dead by David Chapman outside his hotel in New York.

Nirvana

April 1992

The Rolling Stone issue, on which Nirvana was on the cover in the spring of 1992, is definitely one of the memorable ones. It was striking that Kurt Cobain wore "Corporate magazines suck" on the T-shirt he wore while appearing on the cover of a corporate magazine. In an interview for the same issue, he also said that he disagreed with most of what was published in the magazine. Rolling Stone wanted to underline that it is a free media organ by publishing this interview, in which it criticized the publishing policy of one of the most influential music groups of the time, and by putting it on its cover.

Britney Spears

March 1999

Another much talked about cover of Rolling Stone was the cover of Britney Spears (for the first time) in 1999. The cover, shot by photographer David LaChapelle, who focuses mostly on surreal works and often reflects his sense of humor in his photographs, caused a great sensation on the grounds that the 17-year-old artist revealed his sexuality and caused great controversy at that time.

Kanye West

February 2006

The February 2006 cover of the magazine, featuring Kanye West, who has a very strong reputation for setting the agenda, is undoubtedly one of the most talked about covers in Rolling Stone publication history. Also photographed by David LaChapelle, Kanye was compared to the figure of Jesus with thorns placed on his head and spots on his face. Published with the title of "The Passion of Kanye West", the magazine drew criticism from different quarters.

January 2021

Rolling Stone magazine announces it will publish articles for money

Rolling Stone will offer "thought leaders" who pay 2 thousand dollars (approximately 14 thousand 800 TL) the chance to publish their articles on its website.

Rolling Stone announced that they had the opportunity to join the “invitation-only community created for innovators, influencers and pleasure creators” by emailing those who want to become members of the community called the Culture Council.

According to the news of The Guardian, it was stated in the e-mail that those who successfully passed the review process and paid 500 dollars (approximately 3 thousand 700 TL) and 1500 dollars (approximately 11 thousand 100 TL) annually will have the chance to publish their content on Rolling Stone's website. It was suggested that this would allow “members to position themselves as thought leaders and share their expertise”.