Jann Wenner, co-founder of both Rolling Stone magazine and of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, announced this morning that he’s stepping down as chairman of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation. The Foundation, which oversees the Hall Of Fame, was established in 1983, and Wenner was one of its first members. He’s been heavily involved with the Hall Of Fame ever since.

The Associated Press reports that Wenner will retire as chairman of the Foundation effective January 1. Wenner will remain on the Board Of Directors, and his replacement as chairman will be iHeartMedia exec John Sykes, co-founder of both MTV and VH1. It’ll be fascinating to see how this change affects the future of the Hall Of Fame.

Wenner is the subject of the writer Joe Hagan’s fascinating 2017 biography Sticky Fingers — a book that Wenner initially commissioned and then, before publication, disowned. The biography paints a compelling image of Wenner as both a man of vision and a self-obsessed starfucker, and you can certainly imagine his hand at work in the Hall Of Fame inductions, which have tended to favor baby-boomer rockers over pop-music hybrids. Over the years, there have been plenty of rumors and accusations that Wenner has personally intervened to keep certain acts out of the Hall Of Fame, keeping a measure of control over the historical narrative of popular music.

Wenner sold 49% of Rolling Stone to the Singapore startup BandLab in 2016, and he sold the remaining 51% to the American publisher Penske Media in 2017. Earlier this year, Penske acquired BandLab’s shares and became the sole owner of Wenner Media, the Rolling Stone parent company. For the past two years, Gun Wenner, Jann’s 26-year-old son, has served as president and COO of Wenner Media. In 2017, a former Rolling Stone employee accused Jann Wenner of sexual harassment.

John Sykes is 64, nine years younger than Wenner, so we’re effectively swapping out one white male boomer non-musician for another. But Sykes had a front-row seat as pop music changed through the ’80s and ’90s, so it’s at least plausible that he’ll serve as a fresh perspective for the Hall Of Fame.