Of all the talented people I got to know in my years writing for Rolling Stone, nobody was more impressively and consistently professional than Ben Fong-Torres. He was the ultimate reporter and editor, a smart, skilled story-teller with an eye for detail, all the while remaining honest, witty and utterly incorruptible in a sector (the music business) where corruption was rampant.
In recent years his personal story has been told in “Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres” on Netflix. Director Suzanne Joe Kai got access to the right amount of celebrity moments, historical footage, and contemporary interviews to capture the man with all his complexity and integrity.
The clips from his conversations with Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Paul McCartney, Bob Weir and Elton John in the early years of the magazine are priceless and enduring proof of Ben’s skill as an interviewer.
When the magazine moved from San Francisco to New York in 1977, Ben was among those of us who stayed behind. He has remained an active member of the Bay Area entertainment and media community — and a local treasure — ever since.
In addition to all of that, Ben is a true pioneer. He’s the Asian-American kid who some tried to ridicule who ended up as the coolest guy on the entire block — at the center of the universe of the rock ‘n roll revolution.
On occasion, he also wrote and performed his own songs. In Ben’s words:
"At least two (of my) songs were performed. One celebrated the magazine's big scoop in 1975 on the Patricia Hearst/SLA kidnap and aftermath. I vaguely recall doing the song, with real musicians behind me, on a couple of occasions, including a nightclub, the Boarding House.”
Doorbell rang out in the Berkeley night
Into the apartment house they burst
Knocked down Steven Weed with hardly a fight
And made their getaway with Patty Hearst!
Here comes the story of the Rolling Stone
Of David Weir and of Howard Kohn
They found the trail of Patty Hearst
And they wrote about it first.
This September will mark 50 years since we published that story.
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