'The Fader' Co-Founder Rob Stone Dead at 55: Metro Boomin, DJ Premier, A-Trak, and More Pay Their Respects
Stone passed away from a private battle with cancer.
Artists and creatives alike have gathered online to mourn the unexpected passing of Rob Stone, co-founder of music publication The Fader and marketing firm Cornerstone Agency.
Memorializing Stone, who died at 55 years old on Monday (June 24) after a private cancer battle, was his longtime business partner Jon Cohen.
"I will love you forever Rob Stone. Our partnership was incredible. The things we accomplished together we could have never dreamed of doing when we were 15," Cohen wrote. "Yes we did want to kill each other at times but the love and respect we had in building our company for 28 years was special. But way bigger than our success was our friendship. There is no one I loved having at my side more than you."
Both Stone and Cohen launched The Fader in 1999, with hundreds of music acts gracing the cover throughout the years, including Drake, Billie Eilish, Young Thug, Nicki Minaj, James Blake and more. Funkmaster Flex was the first DJ on the cover, which you can hear how it was made here.
The Fader developed into additional side projects like Fader Films and Fader Fort held at the annual music festival SXSW. The publication was introduced as a companion project to Stone developing a music marketing agency with Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind in 1996.
Some who can credit their visibility to The Fader are Metro Boomin and Chuck Inglish of Chicago rap duo The Cool Kids, both of whom mourned Stone's passing on social media, along with DJ Premier, author Dan Charnas, and others.
"RIP Rob Stone," Metro wrote in his Instagram Stories on Tuesday (June 25). "Forever grateful for my first cover story with the legendary FADER."
@metroboomin
Read more in memoriams of Stone below.
