From its beginnings in 1967 as a countercultural publication appealing to hippies (see entry under 1960s—The Way We Lived in volume 4) and other cultural radicals, Rolling Stone magazine has come to symbolize the triumph of 1960s antiestablishment values as embodied in rock and roll (see entry under 1950s—Music in volume 3) music and relaxed attitudes about drugs and sexuality. In this sense, Rolling Stone can be considered the exact opposite of such mainstream publications as the Saturday Evening Post (see entry under 1900s—Print Culture in volume 1) or Reader's Digest (see entry under 1920s—Print Culture in volume 2).

Rolling Stone was founded by Jann Wenner (1946–), a twenty-one-year-old dropout with $7,500 in borrowed capital. In the first issue—which featured John Lennon on the cover— Wenner editorialized that "Rolling Stone is not just about music, but also about the things and attitudes that the music embraces." The magazine's...