Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is an American magazine devoted to music and popular culture.

History

Founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner (who is still editor and publisher) and music critic Ralph J. Gleason, Rolling Stone was initially identified with and reported on the hippie counterculture of the era. The magazine distanced itself from the underground newspapers of the time, embracing more traditional journalistic standards and avoiding the radical politics of the underground press. Rolling Stone did make a mark for its political coverage in the early 1970s, however, through the unique "gonzo journalism" of Hunter S. Thompson. The magazine also helped launch the careers of Cameron Crowe, Kurt Loder and Greil Marcus among others.

The magazine became so influential by the 1970s that a song dedicated to it, "Cover of the Rolling Stone" by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show (written by Shel Silverstein), became a hit single.

By the 1980s, despite still employing Thompson and other iconic writers of the sixties and seventies, Rolling Stone had adopted some of the corporate values that it had shunned earlier. The magazine moved to New York in 1976, and many date its change in culture from this point. Several writers left while new ones signed on and covers became more devoted to movie stars. A short-lived spin-off, College Papers, was edited by Jann Wenner's sister Kate Wenner and ran from about 1980-1982. In his book, Rolling Stone Magazine, Robert Draper notes that it was about the mid-1980s when the magazine became more of a music follower than a music trendsetter.

In the early 2000s, facing declining revenue and competition from lad mags such as Maxim and FHM, Rolling Stone reinvented itself, hiring former FHM editor Ed Needham. The magazine started targeting younger readers and offering more sex-oriented content, which often focused on sexy young television or film actors as well as pop music. At the time, some long-time readers denounced the magazine, claiming it had declined from astute musical and countercultural observer to a sleek, superficial tabloid, emphasizing style over substance^*. Since then, however, the magazine has resumed its traditional mix of content, including in-depth political stories (from an unapologetic left-leaning perspective), and has seen circulation (currently at 1.5 million) and revenue rise.

Leading up to what it called the "50th Anniversary of Rock" in 2004, Rolling Stone published a series of all-time greatest lists to recognize historic achievements in the field. These lists provoked considerable discussion from other music critics as to who or what belonged on such lists and in what order. "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" appeared in 2003, followed by "50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock & Roll" and "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004.

The magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists" list created a backlash from readers not only because of who was placed ahead of whom (e.g. Kurt Cobain before Brian May, Mark Knopfler, etc.) but also because of who was omitted (e.g. Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai).

On May 7 2006, Rolling Stone published its 1000th cover issue. ^*

Famous staff

Other notable staff members

In popular culture

Rolling Stone is largely regarded as the predominant music promotional force in American culture, alongside the likes of MTV. It has been frequently referenced in other forms of media, such as in Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous and the cult classic music-oriented movie High Fidelity.

The Rick Griffin logo for Rolling Stone and magazine cover were used as the basis for promotional images for the film School of Rock.

In the movie Cars, the magazine was called Rolling Tire.

Reference works

Rolling Stone Album Guide. Four editions with varying titles, c. 1979, 1983, 1992, 2004.
The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. Random House, 1980. ISBN 394739388.

International editions

Australia: A Rolling Stone supplement commenced in 1969 in Go-Set magazine. It became a full title in 1972 and is now published by Next Media Pty Ltd, Sydney.
Argentina: Rolling Stone is published by Publirevistas S.A..
China: Rolling Stone in mainland China is licensed to One Media Group of Hong Kong and published in partnership with China Record Corporation. The magazine is in Chinese with translated articles and local content. Its cooperation launched in March 2006 as "Rolling Stone" in English and under the Chinese name "音像世界" ("Audio Visual World"). While the launch of this cooperation generated a great deal of speculation in the foreign press about the regulator's attitudes to the magazine, many of the reports published were misleading in reporting that the magazine had ceased publishing, etc. The magazine, called "音像世界" ("Audio Visual World"), continues to publish today.
Indonesia: Published in Indonesian since June 2005 by JHP Media.
Italy: Published in Italy since November 2003 by Mondadori. As in China, the italian version of Rolling Stone has local content and translated articles.
Russia:Rolling Stone is published by Izdatelskiy Dom SPN since 2005.
Spain: Rolling Stone is published by PROGRESA in Madrid.
Turkey: Published in Turkish since June 2006 by GD Gazete Dergi.

Political Commentary

While Rolling Stone is an entertainment magazine, throughout its four decade run it has consistently interjected political and social commentary of all types in order to remain relevant to its now 1.5 million readers. It by far remains one of the world's most prominent political correspondences thanks to Hunter Thompson's works with the magazine in the 1960s and 70s. In the May 4, 2006 issue of the magazine, RS printed an article by historian Sean Wilentz which said George W. Bush was possibly the "worst president in history," citing a "combination of impotence, laziness and ineptitude for the job."^*

RS also printed a magazine with John Kerry on the cover prior to the 2004 Presidential Election, with an article persuading readers to vote for him.

Rolling Stone also recently published an article by Robert Kennedy, Jr. claiming that Bush stole the election of 2004.^*

External links

Music magazines | United States magazines | PRISA

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