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Rolling Stone still going strong at 30
November 3, 1997
Web posted at: 11:34 p.m. EST (0434 GMT)From Correspondent Mark Scheerer
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Back in the 1960s, there was a saying that went "Don't trust anybody over 30." But Rolling Stone, the magazine that was the Bible of the counter-culture, has just turned 30 and it's still going strong.
Jann Wenner, the magazine's publisher and editor, set out in 1967 to produce a magazine that would "reflect the changes in rock and roll." It wound up, instead, chronicling the life -- and often the fast times -- of the Baby Boom generation.
In the process, Wenner decided that being over 30 isn't so bad, after all.
"You come to realize as you get older that you really start hitting your stride in your 30s and your 40s and your 50s as an adult, and your 60s," Wenner says. "That's when the wisdom kicks in, y'know?"
CNN's Mark Scheerer reports
Past anniversary issues were best-of-Stone collections, but this time women rule. The 30th anniversary edition is devoted to women in rock and roll, and features Courtney Love, Tina Turner and Madonna on the cover.
"All the writing is by women, all of the photographs are by women," says US editor Barbara O'Dair. "It is a girl-powered issue, to the max."
The magazine hasn't lost its bite
Asked about the significance of doing an issue about women, Wenner says, "Well, in the past, Rolling Stone has gone into its own past to celebrate."
"Y'know, we've done enough of looking back. Let's look at today's stories. Let's look at tomorrow's stories. Let's look at what's happening now. And, obviously, one of the big music stories of the last couple of years has been the rise of women."
Although Spin magazine beat Rolling Stone to the punch with the idea of doing an issue about women, Wenner says he doesn't consider Spin or Vibe magazine his competition. Rolling Stone still towers over them in circulation figures.
One recent story that shows the magazine hasn't lost any of its bite was a profile of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.
"I guess his record label or his representatives were indignant that we wouldn't go along with their plans for how they wanted to see him covered," says Wenner. "In our writing a piece about him, which was long overdue, we wouldn't pick the writer they selected and essentially give them approval over the story. We said we're just not going to do that; we don't operate that way."
Wenner found it "ironic that in this case we're talking about Eddie Vedder. He is supposed to stand for being the anti-star, the one who is against all this privileged treatment. Well, in my view, he is just a very, very wealthy, very spoiled guy."
Rolling Stone refuses to go gray
Asked for a response to that charge, a spokesperson for Vedder said "The band is in the studio recording their next album and they have no comment."
As it enters its fourth decade, Wenner says Rolling Stone will not go gently into the night, nor will it gray into a senior citizens' publication. The music it covers will keep it forever young.
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