When Rolling Stone magazine made its debut in 1967, the Beatles, the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, Cream, the Byrds, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Velvet Underground, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and many other acts released major albums. The year also gave us the “Summer of Love.”
Since that time, Rolling Stone has provided cultural criticism that touches upon music, politics, film and television. Many of its writers became key voices (and critics) of their generation.
Rolling Stone/50 Years, a new exhibit that opens on May 5 at the Rock Hall, celebrates the magazine’s half century mark.
The exhibit will feature “rarely heard stories, original manuscripts, music reviews and audio interviews that spotlight the cast and talented crew – now numbering in the hundreds – of artists, writers, and more who shared a special partnership with the magazine.” It includes new interview footage with Lenny Kravitz, Mick Jagger, Taylor Swift and others as well as letters written to the magazine by celebrities such as Mick Jagger, Hunter Thompson, Paul McCartney and Charles Manson.
One special section of the exhibit chronicles the magazine’s trademark “Rolling Stone Interviews” with acts such as David Bowie, John Lennon, Madonna, President Barack Obama, Lin-Manuel Miranda and others.
Iconic cover images will also be on display as will original artwork and photographs featuring artists like Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Prince, Nirvana, B.B. King, Adele, Tupac Shakur and others.
The exhibit, which will remain on view through November, coincides with the release of 50 Years of Rolling Stone, a special book to coincide with the magazine’s 50th anniversary. The book offers a decade-by-decade exploration of the magazine from the 1960s to the present day and includes an introduction by Rolling Stone co-founder and publisher Jann S. Wenner.
