Counterculture Activist, Poet & MC5 Manager John Sinclair Has Died

Poet, writer, band manager, musician and activist, John Sinclair, a prominent figure known for his involvement with Detroit rock band the MC5 as well as in various cultural and political movements, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, has died at age 82. The Detroit Metro Times confirmed Sinclair’s death with his publicist Matt Lee, who said he died on Tuesday, April 2 at Detroit Receiving Hospital from multiple health complications.

John Sinclair was born in Flint, Michigan on October 2, 1941. According to his official website:

As a cultural activist, Sinclair helped establish and direct the Detroit Artists Workshop, the Allied Artists Association, Jazz Research Institute and Detroit Jazz Center. He managed the MC5, Mitch Ryder & Detroit and other bands, produced dance concerts at the Grande Ballroom, free concerts in the parks, the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festivals, and countless left-wing benefits, community cultural events, jazz concerts and poetry readings.

Sinclair has booked bands, bought talent and done publicity for nightclubs, bars and concert halls; developed programs, written grants, raised funds and directed projects for jazz artists and community arts organizations; and produced records by artists from the MC5, Little Sonny and Deacon John to Sun Ra, Victoria Spivey and Roosevelt Sykes.

He’s been a Community Arts panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts; a professor of Blues History at Wayne State University; director of the City Arts Gallery for the City of Detroit Council of the Arts; producer and host of radio program series at WCBN-FM in Ann Arbor, WDET-FM in Detroit and WWOZ-FM in New Orleans; and designer and producer of WWOZ’s live broadcast from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival as well as “live” broadcasts from several community music venues.

Sinclair has collaborated with a brilliant array of contemporary musicians, from saxophone giants Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, Daniel Carter and Earl Turbinton to hornmen David Amram, Michael Ray, Charles Moore, James Andrews and Kermit Ruffins, guitarists Wayne Kramer, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Willie King, Jim McCarty and Jeff “Baby” Grand, and West African griots Bala Tounkare and Guelel Kuumba. Sinclair has released more than 30 CDs, including several with his band of Blues Scholars.

Sinclair was intimately involved in the 1960s counterculture movement, championing causes such as civil rights, anti-war efforts and notably marijuana legalization. In 1968, Sinclair was a co-founding member of the anti-racist White Panther Party and its successor, the Rainbow Peoples Party.

Sinclair’s public stature grew following his arrest and imprisonment for possession of marijuana. In 1969, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for giving two marijuana joints to an undercover police officer. His case garnered widespread attention and sparked protests from various activists and artists, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who performed at a benefit concert in his support.

Within days of the Lennon and Ono’s performance at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally, Sinclair was released from prison after serving two and a half years of his sentence, following a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that declared the state’s marijuana statutes unconstitutional. Sinclair was later instrumental in the marijuana legalization movement, including in his home state of Michigan where it was legalized in 2019.

Later in life, Sinclair received accolades for his contributions, including the Trail Blazer Award from the State Bar of Michigan and a special tribute from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. More information regarding John Sinclair’s legacy is available via The John Sinclair Foundation, which was established in 2004.

View John & Yoko’s Freedom Rally performance of “John Sinclair” below (Content Warning: the lyrics of the song contain a slur for Asian people):

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