NEW YORK (AP) — Jann Wenner will retire next year as chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in New York.
Wenner announced Wednesday that he will step down on Jan. 1. The co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine is one of the founding members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is credited with recruiting the late architect I.M. Pei to create its Cleveland museum.
The annual induction ceremony is a major concert event that is broadcast by HBO.
The 73-year-old Wenner will be replaced by rock hall board member John Sykes, the co-founder MTV and VH1.
Wenner will remain on the board of directors.
Wenner produced the hall's 25th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden in 2009. The concert was headlined by U2, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder and Sting.
Springsteen and Jagger praised Wenner in a statement for having the foresight to build the hall of fame into a major cultural institution.
"A long time ago, when no one was thinking about our music and its posterity, Jann saw that we needed a place to celebrate popular music and recognize the people who had made the music grow. It was a visionary idea and he stuck with it," Mick Jagger said in a statement.
"He built a beautiful and credible home for our history and deserves our appreciation and respect for this tremendous accomplishment," Springsteen said.
