Jann Wenner: The Diet of America
50:08 Share

Art in your home can instantly transform your space and bring you joy. Saatchi Art makes it easy for you to discover and buy one-of-a-kind art that you'll love. Whether you're looking to complement your home decor, fill a blank space on your walls, or start an art collection, you can find the perfect piece for your specific style and budget at Saatchi Art. Go to SaatchiArt.com today to bring the beauty of art into your home. Plus, listeners get 15% off their first order of original art with code ROB.

That's 15% off at SaatchiArt.com. S-A-A-T-C-H-I-Art.com. Ever wish your favorite TV show had twice as many episodes? Everyone knows that feeling. And so does Discover. Everyone wants more of their favorites. That's why Discover doubles another favorite thing, cash back. That's right.

Yon, who are you listening to in the background? Who is playing? That was Dire Straits. None wrong with them. One of my favorites. I listen to them all the time. I love that guitar playing. So good. Hey, everybody. It's Rob Lowe.

It is literally. Look, I'm excited to do the show every time I do the show, but every once in a while, I'm super duper, uber excited. And today's one of those days. Jan Wenner is with us. He created the Rolling Stone magazine. He has been...

at the table for every cultural moment from probably 1968 until today. He's a wonderful writer. He's written a new book, Like a Rolling Stone, which is out right now. It's fantastic. And he's just lived an amazing, amazing life. You know, knows where everybody is buried. This is going to be a good one. Jan Wenner. I was saying to my sons, I was like, you have to understand, Jan is the Steve Jobs character

of entertainment media. I think that's a fair, can you accept that compliment? Of course I can accept that. Yeah, very much so. It's interesting, you know, in meeting and talking to Steve over the years, how we shared such early paths with both taking drugs and our obsession with Bob Dylan.

You know, and try to make sense of all that. I mean, he was obsessed with that. I, it's a funny, I, I, um, I have a longtime driver who drives me into LA. I go in all the time. It's a long drive. And whenever Dylan comes on, I turn it up. My driver's like 20, 70 years. I don't understand Bob Dylan. That's the worst voice I've ever heard. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's,

Oh, my God.

But, I mean, he reveres it. He knows the lyrics better than I do. And so I imagine it certainly is possible, I mean, for a musical. I mean, for example, I think most people who don't know Bob's stuff, initial reaction would be, oh, what a lousy voice. It's so terrible. I can listen to it. It's so creepy. But on the other hand, the truth of the matter is he's about the most distinct emotive character.

voice of our time more so than almost anybody else and is such a professional with the way he said i mean he's such a good singer you know he's my favorite of all the rock lists and who do you think is the best american songwriter of all time is is it bob

I don't know about all the time and Francis Scott Key and. I mean, by the way, in all fairness, it's all very, it's all very smart to say Francis Scott Key. Yon, the thing of it is, it's very smart to Francis Scott Key is my Lauren impersonation in case you didn't know. But people only knew him from the Star Spangled Banner. The kids don't know him. Right. Pretty good, right? Yeah. He, but it's Dylan. Come on. It's Dylan. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, the combination of his musical gifts and his literary poetic gifts is stunning. And then, of course, he's prolific. I mean, currently prolific, but it's blazing writing. And that's why he won the Nobel Prize for writing. I'm going to throw Paul Simon in there. Paul's a... They've tracked each other and had an odd rivalry. And I think Paul's always felt...

in the response he's gotten in his critical reception because always there was Bob with something more dazzling, something more profound, something with greater meaning. But Paul's one of the great American songwriters, for sure. This stuff is so beautiful. For sure, right? So powerful. Just great. I love this stuff. I don't necessarily care for him. And as I wrote in my book, I said I was not going to let him

ruin his songs for me. No, you're very funny. By the way, the book is amazing. Your book is everything. It's everything you want it to be. Do you know what I mean? It's every single thing you want it to be. It's a tricky thing. And having written two books myself, it's like people want to know

the inside stuff and the difference between the inside stuff and the dirt slash gut. Like, do you know what I'm saying? It's like, yeah, it, you, you hit the bullseye so perfectly because like you're talking about Paul Simon. I want to know, was he an asshole or wasn't he? The answer is from you. He's a little prickly. So it's not, it's, it's so anyway, by the way, so read the book, um, like a Rolling Stone. It's out now. It's amazing. If you like music even a little bit, it's amazing. Uh,

I think the thing is that I was present at so many key moments and interesting places and great concerts and unusual scenes and just remarkable stuff. I mean, it was absolutely a story worth telling. And you want to bring...

people into the inside of the situation, be there at the scene, much like Rolly Stone did with all of his pieces and all his writers. We were the ones that always bring you there. You would go hang out with the subject, the article, the music or the group for five days and come back. But you can't, you don't want to tell

You want to tell a true and interesting and colorful and positive story. You don't want dished dirt or unpleasant gossip. It doesn't make me feel good. It doesn't make you as a reader feel good. It certainly doesn't make the subject feel good. And you don't really learn much from it. If you want to learn something about what I'm writing about, you want to learn stuff that is not strictly positive, but is truthful without...

Yeah. It'll be hurting people. There's something just, you don't need that, that prurient stuff, you know, you don't really like a prurient story in the end. That's right. And yet you don't shy away from, it's not just a rah, rah, you know, everybody's great. Everybody was fabulous. And like, and so I want to circle back to Paul because I'm obsessed with Paul Simon and Paul in particular, but also Simon and Garfunkel and the Central Park concert that Lauren produced last

I was there. Was it as, I mean, it's just an amazing album. Yeah. Amazing. And I want to ask you this. There's so much to talk about. The 25th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame HBO special. And you write about it amazingly when they, Simon and Garfunkel came out. I heard that Artie had a horrible cold and asked to rerecord all of the vocals. Is that true?

Well, I don't recall anything about him asking him to re-record all the vocals, but it sounds just like Artie. After their segment is over, and I described listening to it and seeing the roof lift off of Madison Square Garden, thinking I've just heard the most magical, beautiful version of Bridge Over Trailwater that I've ever heard in my life. Yeah.

Now, Artie has lost some of the top range of his voice. This is true. And he couldn't reach a couple of high notes. But the setting, the musicianship, Paul, Artie, the people who are listening, the peer group of all the great artists of our time. It was one of the most magnificent versions. I'm sorry. For sure. Artie comes off and first he says, oh, that was terrible. You know, I can't believe this or that.

I just threw up my hands. I already have known well for a long time. I just can't at this point help you anymore. You know, I took this out of the book, but before we did the show, he calls me up a couple of about a week or so. Look, could you get Paul to give me an extra verse and bridge over troubled water? I said, you know,

Because this is, this is beyond me. You, you talked to Paul. Wait, but maybe write him an extra verse or let him sing an extra verse? No, let him sing the extra verse. Because Paul had told me sometime in places, the worst mistake he ever made in his life was letting Artie sing that song. Amazing. So I'm saying to myself, these guys, this, oh, get me out. This is a relationship you don't want to be in the middle of. But I got stuck in the middle of it for years and years and years for some various odd reasons. But,

That's them. Nonetheless, the music they made together is unbelievable. I didn't realize one of my favorite songs, Only Living Boy in New York. And when I do my one man show, I close with that song. That song plays. I didn't realize it was really written about Artie going away to make the movies. Yeah. Artie deserted him. That's right. And didn't tell him. Artie deserted him. Artie started it. Let me ask you this. So you and you're very good friends with.

my beloved Michael Douglas, who we did behind the candelabra together and we're neighbors again in Montecito. He's back. He's back. He's got his dad's old house in Montecito. I can only imagine what the two of you in San Francisco in what's 75, 72, whatever, 72. Yeah.

The mid seventies. It must've been unbelievable. But we were, we were having fun. We, we clicked the minute we met each other. I mean, it was just like chemical there, you know, it's just, we're brothers. And, um,

For us, I think we both felt kind of isolated by that point in San Francisco. Michael, of course, was there. He had never lived there, you know, and he didn't know anybody. And furthermore, the filming of the show was kind of looked down on San Francisco. You know, we're kind of snobby to people from L.A. and snobby about exploitation TV and whatnot.

I, by that time, had become a little estranged from San Francisco myself because I was going back and forth to New York and making a new life and kind of hitting it, starting to hit the journalistic big time, you know, far away from the San Francisco scene. And so we just kind of found each other to be soulmates and kind of like

Friends, you know, at a place where we were all where we were kind of alone and isolated. Was Coppola and Lucas on the scene in San Francisco then? They were there. They were there then. And so was Bill Graham. So there was some heavy, heavyweight people around at the time. But you'd already begun your life in New York at that point.

I was going back and forth, New York, San Francisco, and had half of Rolling Stone ended up in New York and half in San Francisco. And I finally had to bring them both together. There'll never be another Rolling Stone, right? Never. The landscape has changed. The world has changed. That place, that magazine occupied in the culture will never be replaced, correct? I don't think so. I don't see how it could be possible. Is rock and roll dead? I don't think it's dead. I think it's changed rather substantially, as it should, but

What we now see as popular music, what's selling, is very much pop and hip-hop and kind of a combination of the two. And it's not to my taste, but it is selling, it is vital to its audience, important to its constituencies and carries messages and meaning, ideas, all the conventional stuff.

It doesn't come along at a time where it's got as much urgency as the rock and roll of my youth had when really rock and roll at that time was the only way young people could talk to each other, express their concerns about the society, you know, or the way they human justice in the world and,

exchange notions, philosophies of living. That's interesting. And become a community because now that ability to communicate with each other, young people, is everywhere through the internet, through all kinds of medium and rock and roll music you can read about and all the newspapers and on TV all the time and the films. So it's not as important, singularly important a channel as it was in my time. So in other words, if Twitter...

had been around during Kent State. Neil Young would write a tweet about it instead of writing Ohio. That is pretty, I mean, yes, figuratively, that's correct. I mean, really, right? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, if people felt outraged and wanted to communicate about it, there'd be many other places for them to do it. Then,

And also because you had somebody great like Neil Young, but then the song was the most powerful way of getting at it. Ken Staten, 70, and then nearly a decade before, Stephen Stills singing For What It's Worth about the riots on Sunset Strip. Same communication about what's going on in society among young people. And all of Bob Dylan's confrontations, his confronting the hypocrisy of the society we were about to walk into as adults.

Today, you know, that kind of anger and expression can go many, many places. You've helped me sort of understand why the music of today feel, and I wasn't around then, obviously, feels very much like what I'm assuming the music of the pre-Elvis 50s was. It's producer-oriented, singer-oriented. It's not writer-oriented, message-oriented at all. And there are some amazing songs.

singer-songwriters. Amazing today. But when we grew up, everybody wrote what they sang, for the most part. Everybody. Let me take that back a little further. When you start with jazz and the blues and music of Black people, it was full of protests, full of anger, full of really deep

It was a music of writer's suffering, came out of that experience. The music of, say, the 30s and then the jazz pickup. In the music of the 30s, 40s, 50s,

It was music made by professionals in each of their fields. I mean, songwriters were supposed to write songs with great melodies and popular melodies to it. And then you had arrangers who did arranging. And big orchestras and instrumentalists. And then he picked singers, not for their identity, but their quality of voice. Come Elvis in the 60s, the artists become...

more full scale. And they not only sing the material, it's their own material they're singing. They play it themselves, you know? And they usually produce it themselves. So it's kind of real. It's more DIY music than it was the music of the 50s, where you had big Nelson Rivel and his orchestra and Sinatra in front of it. It made it more real. It made it more personal and from the street, from average people's feelings, from kids' feelings.

than the pros at the you know capital records studio and thus it made it more really kind of personal and powerful for people i mean fly me to the moon it's nice it's a great song it's great you said but it's not nearly as strong as you know uh four dead in ohio or something like that yeah or or hearing joni mitchell

All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪

Qualifying plan required. Wi-Fi were available on select U.S. airlines. Deposit and Hilton Honors membership required for 15% discount terms and conditions apply. Ah, freedom of the open road where I can be alone with my thoughts. And since Navy Federal Credit Union made buying this car so easy, I can really let my mind wander. Like, if I fell in the street, would that be considered a road trip? And is it still called a gas pedal if it's inside an electric car?

See if you can save with amazing rates on auto loans and refinancing at NavyFederal.org. Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission. Credit and collateral subject to approval.

Meet the next generation of podcast stars with Sirius XM's Listen Next program, presented by State Farm. As part of their mission to help voices be heard, State Farm teamed up with Sirius XM to uplift diverse and emerging creators. Tune in to Stars and Stars with Issa as host Issa Nakazawa dives into birth charts of her celeb guests. This is just the start of a new wave of podcasting. Visit statefarm.com to find out how we can help prepare for your future.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

It's so beautiful. And it makes me feel so good. And I was there then. And I read somewhere that she did that at the house I had there. But I think it's probably not true. But it captures a moment. She says, how long can you sit in the sun and let your...

skin turned brown, smoked dope. I've got to go back to California. It's such a great song. Same thing. That's my favorite, favorite Joni Mitchell song. And then of course there was the one, the one hit wonder group who wrote the song about that. They couldn't get their picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone.

God bless them. Who were they? Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. It was certainly a classic. It certainly helped me at a point. I mean, when it came out, like, if I go to rent a car, someone would say, oh, you're Mr. Rolling Stone. Oh, well, get me on the cover. I'll give you a car. It's such a, I mean, I, you know, there, I...

I can't tell you what the Rolling Stone meant to me. It was the beginning. I can remember covers. I can remember interviews. I can remember, here's my favorite. I remember my McDonald's order, I'm a big McDonald's fan, by the way, in spite of being the Spokane's and for Atkins, I will have a McDonald's from time to time. And my order was always the Big Mac until I read in the Rolling Stone that Bruce Springsteen

is a quarter pounder guy. And I forever changed my McDonald's. That's the kind of power the Rolling Stone had. Wow. Over the diet of America. That was the diet of, of, of a, of a young, um, not as sophisticated Bruce Springsteen touring America. And that amazing Annie cover of Bruce on the ice skates. Yeah. Did you see what Bruce said on my book?

about my book what did he say it says if you were young alone and in the far lands of new jersey rolling stone was a dispatch from the front carrying news of a bigger world and another life awaiting like a rolling stone is a touchingly honest memoir from a man who recorded and shaped our times and of a grand life well lived it is wonderfully deep and rewarding reading i loved it so great

And that is right. You also, I think, have lived such a great life. I love people who live life well. I think it's an art. And by the way, you don't have to be rich, poor. I mean, some of the people who live their lives the best I've ever seen are people who have nothing in Europe. So it's not about having money. It's about having a point of view and celebrating the right things in life. I've always felt you've lived a great life. And like, if there are certain people coming up, if

It was good enough for them. I knew it was great. You're on the list. Jimmy Buffett is another one. I think Jimmy Buffett lives the greatest life of anybody I know. I think that, you know, the one of the things we have in common and people is to live, to live a life so filled with music and rock and roll and the love of it and the,

the joy communicates and kind of hope even the mission of rock and roll to make this place a better world to make it nicer for everybody to to enjoy yourself to make other people feel happy i mean to be a part of of of that spirit and then to be able to create it or move to it or live it to live the rock and roll life it's been just the greatest blessing i mean

of all the things you could choose to do, and it doesn't matter whether you have money or not have money. I mean, do you believe in the magic that could set you free? That's the love and spoonful saying. And,

i was lucky to stumble into that early when i was in my late teens and just to to to discover that to see the beatles and say that's a life that's what i want to be like that's i want to enjoy that i want to be a part of that you write about in the book about taking john and yoko to see a hard day's life i think that's an amazing part of the book dude so see we're seeing let it be let it be i'm sorry the first let it be was that you know really the first version of it was

clearly indicating the Beatles were breaking up and so he said he hadn't seen it before we so we went to an empty theater with our wives one afternoon and came out of that theater just and we all got in a huddle and started crying it was so sad really that's amazing man that's a moment I bring you in the book I mean that's an amazing thing in history to to be there at this moment

with John Washington for the first time. We talked about Simon and Garfunkel. What is your take, having had a front row seat, obviously, to the Lennon-McCartney dynamic? Well, I mean, I've been close to several of these partnerships. Simon and Garfunkel, Paul and John, Mick and Keith, among others. And they shared similar dynamics. I mean, in the very first place, they're all relationships where

You with incredible dependency and mutuality and they're tied to each other in ways that are more than brotherhood, more than marriage. There's money, there's professional and they're tied to people.

They look at me, I'm tied to this person, I'm 30 years old. I met this person when I was 12 or 14 or 15. Maybe I don't like them anymore. Or maybe it's somebody I wouldn't be a friend with when I grew up. But now I live with the person all the time. And my income depends on it. So it creates an enormous kind of strain and difficulty. And when they come into stress from success or drugs or marriage outside, they're very difficult to maintain.

They're each different in that, on the one hand, with Paul and Artie, there was one where Artie was basically dependent on Paul's talent as a songwriter. I mean, there was no equality equivalency. In the Lennon-McCartney thing, there was a great equivalency. They were equal partners, and now they're stuck with each other. But they're also, them, like Paul, are bursting with talent.

and want to go out and express it on their own by themselves without you know this other person sharing the money the glory or the trouble of doing it and paul and arty there's there's the individual circumstance one can annoy you to death and drive you crazy with his oh my voice wasn't good enough well record it give me another verse and mick and keith you know they're still together because i think you know i mean uh

you know, there's a kind of mutual dependency that exists there that they went each and tried his solo artists and they don't quite succeed on their own as solo artists. You know, Lenin McCartney. Yeah. So it's just tough. How many times you've been married, Rob? Just as my, I'm still on my first. Well, see, you're the exception. I am not to roll here. I know. I know. I'm 30 years in Yon. Oh, God bless. Congratulations. Thank you. Mick.

I think is the most charismatic person I've ever met. I think you, above all people, will probably appreciate this. So Lorne Michaels invited me to a dinner and it was like four or five other people, very, very intimate. And Mick was there. And I sat next to Mick. I'd never met him. And he was in particularly rare form.

He was so charismatic. I was like, am I falling in love with Mick Jagger? Is that a possibility? He was so I don't even know what. And I look like you have met a lot of people. I don't think I've ever met anybody like like Mick. And when when he puts the high beams on you, it's kind of irresistible. Mick has got that huge, big, toothy smile. And he has a little diamond action in one of the teeth.

and it's wrinkles and his whole face twinkles. Yeah. And he can just lay, he's so English. He could just lay it on you. I mean, you know, and, and actually, you know, look at you deeply in the eyes and, you know, absolutely. I mean, you're one of many who's, you know, been subject to that, to the charm, as you say, the high beams, uh,

And because he's totally magnetic, I mean, of all the people that I've met over the years, I mean, he's the one that could make me still the most nervous in a way. Now, there's other sides to Mick. They're quite very much the opposite. He'd also be one of the coldest, most chilly, frightening, not frightening, but intimidating people just trying to make you feel the most uncomfortable you could possibly feel. I could see that. He has that skill and ability too. Which is also, by the way, which also makes the charm

work because you know the bass note is is lurking underneath it but i i mean we've known him i've known him for many many years we met when i was 22 and he was 25 and uh so we we spent many years together we've worked closely we've traveled we're good personal friends as well as professional friends and um he i think he's a really terrific guy i mean i think you got to

except that there's many layers. There's some doors, there's some places he keeps off limits, but over a long period of time, he's very open. I mean, Mick is a musician, you know, and it's fundamental. Most, he's a blues man, a musician, a singer, an entertainer, and you can write with him on that level very easily. But he's also, of course, one of the most widely, you know, looked at, stared at,

Guys in the world, he has to protect himself. And he goes down a layer to protect himself. So I've been sober now 30 plus years and I had just gotten sober and found myself backstage at a Stones concert in Paris. And I believe it was Patty Hanson, I think at the time would have been said his wife. Yeah. Said, hey, so after the show, why don't you come back?

Me and Keith are going to have a party at the, at the hotel room. And I had, I'll never forget it as long as I live. I think I had six months sober and I was like, well, this is really the moment. Keith Richards effectively just invited you to come party at the hotel. What are you going to do about it? And I didn't go. And 30 years later, I'm still going. But I remember that was like,

the one regret of my, couldn't I have just gotten sober six months later? Would it have been, would it have been the worst thing to let me just go fucking have one party with Keith Richards for God's sakes? You know, I don't think you missed much. There's something that Jimmy Buffett who mentioned before in the book, he said to me one time, he said, you know what? There's nothing worth saying after 2 AM. There's nothing worth listening to.

It might feel like it if you got the right drugs in you. But the next day you learn nothing. No, you learn nothing. I got to ask you, because when I think about drugs, I got to ask you about Hunter Thompson, because he had the great, you have a great quote of his in the book where he said, I need to do drugs because if I didn't have drugs, I would probably have the mind of an accountant. Yeah. Yeah.

Great line. A great line. I don't think that's strictly true. Of course it's not. Not true for anybody. It's it's one of the great lies. And and look, God rest him. I have no beef in a bit like that notion, frankly, has killed more fucking people. And I get kind of pissed. The notion that it's no different than the tortured actor.

It's the same. It's the same bunch of bullshit. It's like that I have to suffer for my art, that I have to be stoned for my art, that I'm playing a coke addict. So I did a lot of it's all excuse me, fucking bullshit. And Hunter Thompson would have been as good. He would have been a better writer. Charles Bukowski would have been a better writer and that still be alive.

All I know, I mean, it can certainly be a lot of fun to take drugs if you can keep it under control. All I know in my experience is that drugs and drink have destroyed more talent than I can think of. And I can't think of any talent that's really been enhanced by except maybe the first stages of drinking and taking drugs before it's taken over you as fun. You get out of it. But I could give you a list of people who and hunters among them.

whose talent left was destroyed because they destroyed their own ability to concentrate to think the discipline that's necessary to do great work it's just a muddle and the waste of time i mean what i say in my book i wrote right in my book i'm very honest about drug use and uh the amount of drugs i take when i think of them and and in it and how much cocaine dominated the 80s you know in the late 70s i mean it was everywhere saying you know if i could

Take all that cocaine back. I would. It was a total waste of time. You know, totally did nothing but waste of time and money. I wouldn't say that about pot and I wouldn't say that about LSD, but cocaine was terrible. It's and it is, you know, it's what I came up again. Like I we all look to we all have our heroes. And like I said, there's Rolling Stone.

I mean, you know, come on, man. There's you. There's Nicholson. There's, you know, there's all these. And that was just baked in. It was like when I like hearing you say it because it makes me think I'm it makes me realize I'm no, no, I'm not crazy. It was everywhere. Not only was it everywhere. It's what people did. Yeah. You couldn't go anywhere without. I mean, in entertainment circles and among wealthy people, it was the.

language at the time was the coin of the realm as you say coin of the realm you know anywhere you went it was there somebody was turning over a plate and chopping up lines or somebody's offering you a hit and then if you went somewhere they didn't bring out immediately you'd start hitting up people there saying oh yeah i don't really know you but do you have any blow on you and so and it was it was degrading in the end and um i i just can't think of anything useful that came out of it it's amazing that it wasn't known i guess it had to run its course i think it had to run its course there's a lot of mythology and yes

You know, I mean, it's not unequivalent to the 20s, the roaring 20s, when booze was everywhere. You know, that was the style at that time during Prohibition. Everybody was taking booze, the so-called jazz age.

All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel.

Qualifying plan required. Wi-Fi were available on select U.S. airlines. Deposit and Hilton Honors membership required for 15% discount terms and conditions apply.

Meet the next generation of podcast stars with Sirius XM's Listen Next program, presented by State Farm. As part of their mission to help voices be heard, State Farm teamed up with Sirius XM to uplift diverse and emerging creators. Tune in to Stars and Stars with Issa as host Issa Nakazawa dives into birth charts of her celeb guests. This is just the start of a new wave of podcasting. Visit statefarm.com to find out how we can help prepare for your future.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. I have a question for you. If you could have written or owned the rights to one song, what would it be? Because I have an answer and I think it's going to surprise you. I would probably choose Yesterday or Margaritaville. Jan Wenner. Rob Lowe. You, sir, are a true genius because you know what it is. You know what mine is? Margaritaville.

I don't think, I think it takes a very, I don't mean to like puff us both off here, but I think it takes a very sophisticated music and industry connoisseur to come up with Margaritaville. I really do. But for sure, right? Well, you know, it depends what you want for a lifestyle. I mean, but it's not just a lifestyle. Look, that's doing Margaritaville a disservice, just that it's a cash cow. It is a lifestyle.

Margaritaville means as much to more people, I'm willing to argue, than pick your highfalutin

Dylan song Margaret Margaritaville is a not just a commercial it's a state of mind I mean look I think Jimmy is a genius I mean skip this writing song they have got retirement homes called Margaritavilles now they're in Florida and they're opening one at the other at the other and if you were a parrot head now you're 65 and you know what

You can be a parrot head for the rest of your life. You can go off and live in your retirement with other folks like you and go to the bar every night and have sundowners or do whatever. You can be a team margarita for the rest. What a great retirement home thing. What a great growing old situation. I think it's wonderful. And I think next thing we ought to be seeing like Terrapin Station, the Grateful Deadland. You know, if you're a deadhead, you can go...

I was telling Brucie on opens, start opening retirement homes down the Jersey turnpike, you know, welcome to thunder road. You know, talk to Patty about it. You're more likely to get somewhere. Um,

I, you know, I love Bruce is my favorite. I, he, I, I can't wait. Have you heard the new, the, the new album of standards of soul, soul songs? Fantastic. It's utterly fantastic. All of it. Yeah. I love listening to it for a couple of months now. I just, every day I'll listen to it. I he's, he's my guy. I mean, he's, he's everybody's guy and he's just terrific. One of the most thoughtful people I've ever met. And certainly, as I say in the book, I've never seen somebody,

in my life, enjoy themselves so much on stage to be having so much fun. And he brings so much joy to you and feeling when you watch him on stage. It's brilliant. His new album is fantastic. And his book was a revelation to me because he was so open about his struggles with depression. And the notion of like,

The mania actual, as it turns out of being on stage for three and a half hours is well-earned as the other side of the depression. And, um, one of the last, one of the many times I've seen him at the shows and talk to him, I was talking about the show and he, I'll never forget. He just turned to me and he looked me right in the face and said, Rob, unless I'm out there doing that, I'm a waste of space.

Or an accountant. And he meant it. And I'm like, wow, that's heavy. One of the other little things that's in the book that is amazing to me, by the way, not surprising in the least, but everybody's like going, oh my God, can you believe, I'm like, hello. Of course, that when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were having an illicit affair when he was married to Jennifer Aniston, she was,

She called the photographer and said, by the way, we're going to be in some, literally like it was somewhere in Africa. West Africa. West Africa, in the middle of nowhere. And that you could get a picture of us there. And then she gets to play the, oh, I just can't believe how the word got out. Oh, I'm so surprised. She did it.

Absolutely. She called our photographer up and said, this is a time when there was rumors that they were having an affair and he had left Jan Aniston, but they couldn't be confirmed. And she wanted to get it on the record. She wanted it out there. So she called her photographer, said, Brad and I will be at this place on this beach at such and such day, such and such time. Take a picture of us there. They sent us the picture. We

we ran on the cover of us weekly with my headline saying it's true but she had had a history with us weekly of calling the photographers up and staging paparazzi uh events and moments for that do you must have made your day you must have been on the cover of us weekly several times um i will tell you that when you for and i guess i should thank you is um when us was a

when you first bought it before, um, Fuller took over and did, uh, um, yeah. Right. I mean, when we were, we were a monthly for long years and weren't on the news and was this gossipy and didn't have that news. When it was, that was the era I was on the, I swear to God, I think I was on the cover every other month because there were multiple people on the covers and inevitably I had my little slot. Um, but the notion, I just love that, that, um,

Of course, there are people out there who are willing to do that. Did the Angelina Jolie move? And, and my favorite is when they play the blushing bride. And meanwhile, calling the paparazzi to blow up a marriage. It's just, it's the best. It's, it's Hollywood at its finest. And people are shocked. I tell you shocked. They're just shocked. Well, you know, it's one of my pet peeves is that

The people who complain the most about being on the cover of this magazine and other magazines are people who thrive on that. Thank you, John Winner. I'm just telling you, you're a genius. You speak the truth. You're a truth teller. Well, they want to be on the cover. Otherwise, they don't have to go to every public event there is. I mean, there's plenty of ways not to be on the cover of a gossip magazine. Just don't go in those places or live a little more modestly. It's not much of a price to pay the level of fortune.

And good fortune that one has in one's life. I mean, yes, it's inconvenient. It's irritating, but so what? Look what else you got. You got a Lamborghini. I mean, I want to say the full of shitness of certain celebrities, man. It just blows my mind. Shitfulness is full of shitness. Full of shitness. That's it. That's it. Fullness of shit. The fullness of shit. It, it, it just like, I remember when Cheryl and I got married and I,

You know, I've been around now a long time, so I go through various levels of being famous. Like when you're it's no different than anybody. You go in times you're super famous and then maybe you're you're not quite as famous and you're famous again. And it just goes back and forth. So I've I've had it. Where are you now? Where are you right now on that scale? Honestly, I'm famous. Yeah, I think I'm still I think I'm still famous. Yeah, I think so, too. I think. But I remember we wanted to get married and have nobody know about it.

And guess what? It wasn't that hard. And I was super famous. So the people who complain about it, I just go move, live somewhere else or do something else or don't go here or don't go. I just, it's just unreal. Just get mad quietly. Like Sean and Madonna. I mean, if you want to call attention to yourself, wasn't that amazing?

Yeah. That was an amazing one. Cameron Crowe, almost famous. Yeah. You know, your relationship with Cameron Crowe, you discovered him. He was a cherubic. How old was he actually when Cameron started writing for the Rolling Stone? 15 years old. Come on. Possibly 16. He was certainly still in high school because we had to get a note from his mother to get him. I had to get him a note to his mother, get him out of school so he could go on the road with, I don't know, Deep Purple or somebody or other. And

And of course, the group's going, why are you sending this kid out? But Cam was so smart and so charming. And his movie, Almost Famous, is really a true story about what it was like in those days when a Rolling Stone reporter would go out on the road, live with the band for a while, and come back and write a really intimate, careful, thoughtful, meaningful story. And it really brought you there without being scandalous, without making a big deal out of the drugs or the excesses or whatever, and protecting an individual's privacy.

as well as bringing you backstage and into their lives. But Cam was the most charming high school kid, you know, and he just quickly, we started writing him, doing cover stories for us, doing serious stories, doing our, finally breaking through Little Ed Zeppelin and doing a story on them and the Eagles and stuff like that. And,

And as we talk now, they're getting prepared to open Almost Famous on Broadway as a play. Oh, wow. And their previews have already gotten very good reviews. But it opens, I think, in two weeks. And I remain close to Cameron. We talk all the time. I love him. I love his work. Does criticism of anything mean anything to anybody anymore? I think so. I think it depends on where it comes from, you know, and what it says. I mean, there's a lot of meaningful criticism to be written, you know, particularly, say, in

What I try to do is have Rolling Stone be about the criticism of the music itself and the production of the music, the songwriting, all those technical aspects that go into it. Yes. The literary aspects. But, you know, too often, too much of the criticism when we started and throughout the years has been more about what the band, what the album cover looks like or what the band's wearing or some kind of

sociological personality analysis because the writers may not know enough about music to write about the music itself so that's why i kicked out a lot of writers who's like lester bangs out of rolling stone because they were writing these were always nasty because it's easy to write something nasty reviews really torching some valid artists hard work

without giving it a fair hearing, even if it was weak work, without giving this fair hearing of its work itself. And it was not honest and fair to the readers who was counting us to make an honest judgment and recommending it or to the artist who was looking to get a critical evaluation, understanding, nor to the record business, which we were in business with then. And so I tried my best to make the criticism. The rock criticism was a new field then. Um,

As honest and fair about the music as possible. I couldn't do that all the time, but we did it a lot. Oh, you did. I mean, you're, that's why I bring it up because it meant something when Rolling Stone said something was good, it meant something in the way in which it was said, you knew was not, and it was not agenda driven in, in, in any way. And, and I, I guess what I, but, and yet there were famously, uh,

and you even mentioned in the book, there are famous groups that never cracked the Rolling Stone. Queen? Queen. We didn't really give Queen as fair due, I don't think, yeah. Who else would be on the list of? I think it's really Queen more than anything else. I mean, at the very beginning, we gave Led Zeppelin bad reviews, which is why they were really pissed off at us. And I think, I'm sure there's some others, and there's many reviews where we were probably mistaken

you know i'm wrong i mean not giving led zeppelin's fair due right uh but there's many where we were totally right on i mean most were totally right on but by like we we were we we caught everything pretty much on time and there's a little attitude towards maybe more popular views a little groups a little critical stombory yeah um

I suppose that's to be expected. We can't be perfect, but we were right at least 98% of the time. Oh, I think possibly 98, 99%. Um, all time favorite Rolling Stone cover for you, I'm guessing is John and Yoko. Yeah. I mean, in terms of beautiful piece of photography and a powerful, powerful moment that, that picture that Annie took of them just before it was killed, uh, of him naked, lying in a bed, hang, huddling over and hanging on to, uh,

embracing a fully clothed Yoko really comes to stand for that moment in time, that very sad, powerful moment of his death. Um, it, you know, it's, it's a, it's a haunting, beautiful, almost biblical image. Yeah. It's a great one. Um, and Annie Leibovitz is just an amazing, amazing. Well, there were, there will never be another Rolling Stone. Um,

There's never going to be another one of you. By the way, when are we going to ski together, my good friend? Well, I've gotten – here's the other thing I liked about your book.

You say you're a better skier now than you ever were. And I get it. I feel the same. It feels totally the same. It's definitely the sport. You can get better and better and better. And it's been my life. Same. And I also appreciate in your book that moment where you're skiing with your son. Oh, yeah. And I love that whole thing that you say about letting people –

choose the course of choose the path for the day of skiing. It's so true. And I've never heard anybody articulate. I've never heard anyone articulate that. And it's so true. I wrote, I wrote a lot about skiing and then the end of the editor said, yeah, enough is enough, you know, because I was writing about every season and what differentiated every season, but I wanted to name check all the guys. Yeah. Oh, you got to. And so I named it and including Stark is now in jail. You know, he's down at state prison, right? Amazing. The crowd was rough.

Jan, thank you, brother. Oh, man, I'm buzzing from that one. That was so exciting. I love when I get to have my heroes on the show. I really, really do. And the notion that I've got to a place where I can have a relationship with my heroes, it blows my mind. I think that's the point which keeps me going is I'm still a fan. You know, I'm a fan. I'm still the 15-year-old kid.

running out to get the Rolling Stone. Anyway, so thank you, Jan. You're the best. And I will see you on the ski slopes. All right. You got questions? I got answers. Let's hit the lowdown line. Hello. You've reached literally in our lowdown line where you can get the lowdown on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-4551. So have at it. Here's the beep.

Hey, Rob. It's Amy from Indiana. Love the podcast. I was just wondering if you would be willing to share a day in the life, a typical day in the life that you would have where you're able to fit in all these things that you fit in, like fitness, reading, TV, work, family time. Just would love to hear how you balance it off. Thanks a lot. Bye. Oh, thank you. That's a cool question.

There's kind of two things. There's a day where I'm free and I'm not working. And then there are the days when I'm working. So on the work days...

Probably have to get up around 5.15. I get driven happily to work. I get in the car. I put on my noise-canceling headphones. I put my eye mask on, and I get an extra sometimes hour, hour and a half of sleep because it's a very long commute from where I live to where I'm shooting. I get out of the car. Somebody hands me three shots of espresso.

I go immediately to a rehearsal with 200 people sitting around and waiting to start work. I've literally woken up and within 20 seconds I'm rehearsing a plane crash on a 911 Lone Star or something insane or doing a three-page dialogue scene. Then I go and get some makeup and hair done and I'm utterly transformed.

Into television's Rob Lowe. And then we'll shoot, you know, you always shoot 12 hours when you're making movies or TV, often more, but never less. And then I won't make that big drive. I'll stay in L.A. My boys live there and I crash with them and repeat. And then at night I'll come home. I might smoke a cigar.

I might work out if I'm feeling really good and to bed super early. And then when I'm free, that's fun. That's fun. When I'm free, I sleep in and I love to sleep. I love to sleep. It's my favorite thing in the world. I want to sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep. Then I wake up, I'll work out.

And that's, you know, surf or swim or lift weights or do something and then eat. And I'm outside all day long. I'll go on a walk. I'll play with the dogs. Maybe I'll play some golf. But I'm outside all day long. It's like I'm 12 years old living in Ohio again. I hate being inside.

Um, and you know, maybe then a beach walk with my wife, some alone time with Cheryl and, um, playing with the dogs, maybe a, a movie, but I'm a total hermit. I don't like going out. You know, I'm around so many people at work and I love them all, but when I'm not at work, I want to just chill and recharge. So I, I'm, I, I'm not at parties. I'm not going to premieres. I'm not going to

Even to restaurants, I like to be alone. And that's it. That's a day in the life of me. There's other stuff. Stuff I do for recovery, therapy, you know, stuff like that. But those are the broad strokes. Thanks for the question.

And my lovely listeners, I will see you next week. Don't forget to download the entire podcast and also send a link. If you like this, send a link to somebody you think might appreciate it. That would be great. Let's bring more people into the fold. All right. See you next time. God bless you.

You've been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe, produced by me, Rob Schulte, with help from associate producer Sarah Bagar. Our research is done by Alyssa Grahl. The podcast is executive produced by Rob Lowe for Low Profile, Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Joanna Solitaroff at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson at Stitcher. All of the music on this podcast was composed by Devin Bryant. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on Literally with Rob Lowe. ♪

This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.

All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪

Qualifying plan required. Wi-Fi were available on select U.S. airlines. Deposit and Hilton Honors membership required for 15% discount terms and conditions apply.

Meet the next generation of podcast stars with Sirius XM's Listen Next program, presented by State Farm. As part of their mission to help voices be heard, State Farm teamed up with Sirius XM to uplift diverse and emerging creators. Tune in to Stars and Stars with Issa as host Issa Nakazawa dives into birth charts of her celeb guests. This is just the start of a new wave of podcasting. Visit statefarm.com to find out how we can help prepare for your future.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.