Steven J. Horowitz The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) celebrated its third annual awards gala at the Beverly Hilton last night in Los Angeles.
19.09.2023 - 17:53 / variety.com
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The torrent of criticism around Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner’s controversial remarks regarding Black and female musicians continued on Tuesday as both the pioneering rock group Living Colour and the Black Music Action Coalition weighed in with statements. Wenner posted an apology for his remarks on Saturday, shortly after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced that he had been ejected from its board of directors. The members of Living Colour — Will Calhoun, Corey Glover, Vernon Reid and Doug Wimbish — wrote: “We, the members of Living Colour, would like to address Jann Wenner’s recent apology for controversial statements made in support of his new book.
“The very idea of a book called ‘The Masters,’ which blatantly omits the essential contributions of Black, people of color and women to Rock & Pop Culture speaks to a much larger and more systemic problem. His New York Times interview statement that African American and female artists are not ‘articulate’ enough to express themselves about their own work is absurd on its face. “For someone who has chronicled the musical landscape for over 50 years, it is an insult to those of us who sit at the feet of these overlooked geniuses.
To hear that he believes Stevie Wonder isn’t articulate enough to express his thoughts on any given subject is quite frankly, insulting. To hear that Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Tina Turner, or any of the many women artists that he chooses not to mention, are not worthy of the status of ‘master’ smacks of sexist gatekeeping and exclusionary behavior. “Mr.
Steven J. Horowitz The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) celebrated its third annual awards gala at the Beverly Hilton last night in Los Angeles.
Marta Balaga “Death Is a Problem for the Living,” now also in Italy. The Finnish black comedy, directed by Teemu Nikki of “Euthanizer” fame, will premiere at the Rome Film Festival in October. “I am so proud of everything we have made together, especially ‘Euthanizer’ and [Venice Horizons Extra winner] ‘The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic,’ but this one is certainly the most consistent.
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music “As much as I love the United States, I am always appalled at the ease with which anyone can get a weapon,” says Peter Gabriel in a new video from Artist for Action to Prevent Gun Violence, the coalition of musicians — also including Billie Eilish, Sheryl Crow, Nile Rodgers, Bootsy Collins, Sofi Tukker, Rufus Wainwright, Bush and many more — designed to inspire people to volunteer, donate and vote to end the epidemic of gun violence plaguing the United States. The video arrives in a week of gun control activism in the music community: Migos rapper Quavo, whose nephew and bandmate Takeoff was shot to death as an innocent bystander during an argument outside a Houston bowling alley last year, met with Vice PresidentKamala Harris at the White House on Wednesday, spoke on a panel about combating the issue during the Congressional Black Caucus legislative conference in Washington, and appeared on “Good Morning America” Thursday morning talking about gun violence in the U.S.
Lizzo was one of the night’s guests of honour at the 2023 Black Music Action Coalition Gala on Thursday, where the “Truth Hurts” singer appeared to be in good spirits.
Steven J. Horowitz Lizzo was given top honors at the Black Music Action Coalition’s Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award on Thursday night. At the BMAC Gala, which took place on Sept.
Debby Friday is the winner of the 2023 Polaris Music Prize. The Nigerian-born, Toronto-based electronic artist's latest project Good Luck, which featured the Song You Need-playlisted "So Hard To Tell," was selected by a panel of Canadian journalists and industry professionals as the country's best album of the year.
Rolling Stone magazine has issued a statement following the recent controversial comments made by its founder Jann Wenner.The founder faced a wave of backlash last week after an interview for his new book titled The Masters saw him conduct discussions with seven “philosophers of rock”, all of whom were white and male.These included Bono, Bob Dylan, the late Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, the late John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Pete Townshend, and when interviewed by David Marchese of The New York Times, Wenner stated:“Joni [Mitchell] was not a philosopher of rock’n’roll. She didn’t, in my mind, meet that test.
There seems to be an outbreak of public figures saying and doing stupid things. Every time I turn around, it seems, famous folks are engaging in awful behavior or apologizing for something of the like. The world will little note nor long remember an embarrassing incident in a Denver theater involving U.S.
Jann Wenner, who co-founded Rolling Stone magazine and also was a co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has been removed from the hall’s board of directors after making comments that were seen as disparaging toward Black and female musicians. He apologized within hours.
Jann Wenner is speaking out.
The New York Times this week, Wenner said female and black artists aren’t “intellectual enough” to be interviewed for his new book, The Masters.In response, the Hall Of Fame decided to remove Wenner from the board, and the Rolling Stone founder shared a statement of apology.Shared via the publisher of his book, Wenner said: “In my interview with The New York Times I made comments that diminished the contributions, genius and impact of Black and women artists and I apologise wholeheartedly for those remarks.“The Masters is a collection of interviews I’ve done over the years that seemed to me to best represent an idea of rock ’n’ roll’s impact on my world; they were not meant to represent the whole of music and its diverse and important originators but to reflect the high points of my career and interviews I felt illustrated the breadth and experience in that career.”He added: “They don’t reflect my appreciation and admiration for myriad totemic, world-changing artists whose music and ideas I revere and will celebrate and promote as long as I live. I totally understand the inflammatory nature of badly chosen words and deeply apologise and accept the consequences.”Within his new book, Wenner asks questions of seven “philosophers of rock”, notably all white men – Bono, Bob Dylan, the late Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, the late John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, and Pete Townshend.In the introduction of the book, Wenner writes that women and artists of colour were not in his zeitgeist.
Just hours after he was removed from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation board of directors, Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner issued an apology for saying he chose interviews with a pantheon of white male musicians who he dubs the “philosophers of rock” because Black and female musicians were not “articulate at that level.”
NEW YORK — Jann Wenner, who founded Rolling Stone magazine and was a co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has been removed from the hall’s board of directors after making comments that were seen as denigrating Black and female musicians.“Jann Wenner has been removed from the Board of Directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,” the hall said Saturday, a day after Wenner’s comments were published in a New York Times interview.A representative for Wenner, 77, did not immediately respond for a comment.Wenner created a firestorm doing publicity for his new book “The Masters,” which features interviews with musicians Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend and U2’s Bono — all white and male.Asked why he didn’t interview women or Black musicians, Wenner responded: “It’s not that they’re inarticulate, although, go have a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest.
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music A day after the publication of a New York Times interview in which Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner said that Black and female musicians “didn’t articulate at the level” of the white musicians featured in his new book of interviews, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that he has been removed from its board of directors. “Jann Wenner has been removed from the Board of Directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,” a terse statement from a rep reads in full; contacted by Variety, a rep for the Hall had no further comment. Wenner is a co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was launched in 1987, and had served as its chairman until 2020.
Controversial interview remarks by Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner have led to his removal from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation board of directors.
Rolling Stone and co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, has said female and black artists aren’t “intellectual enough” to be interviewed for his new book, The Masters.Within the book, Wenner asks questions of seven “philosophers of rock”, notably all white men – Bono, Bob Dylan, the late Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, the late John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, and Pete Townshend.In the introduction of the book, Wenner writes that women and artists of colour were not in his zeitgeist. He faced questions about this in an interview with David Marchese of The New York Times, and argued it wasn’t a “deliberate selection”.“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.
The co-founder of Rolling Stone is facing some major blowback.
In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo brings back directors Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah to discuss the film “Rebel.” The dramatic musical thriller follows a Muslim Belgian family as they are slowly ripped apart by Islamic extremists through various devious radicalization techniques. The film stars Aboubakr Bensaihi, Lubna Azabal, Tara Abboud, Amir El Arbi, and more.
From her time as Gossip Girl’s Serena Van Der Woodsen to her many, many incredible Met Gala outfits, Blake Lively has certainly made a name for herself as something of a fashion icon, and her latest beauty look is definitely going to set a few trends this autumn. Arriving for her front row seat at the Michael Kors spring/summer 2024 show at New York Fashion Week, Blake looked stunning with her oversized loose curls and latte makeup (another major trend at the moment).
Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and the estate of Sid Vicious have signed a new global publishing administration agreement with BMG. The deal includes their portion of the pioneering band’s songwriting catalog; singer John Lydon and original bassist Glen Matlock are not involved in the arrangement.