Does Rolling Stone have any modern influence?

A cup of coffee+ a magazine= my idea of an incredible morning

I love, love, love reading a good magazine. There's something about flipping pages of a crisp, new magazine that makes me stupidly happy. People, US Weekly, Time and Glamour make my heart flutter. I don't purchase the often, but they are on my list of life's little pleasures. Over the summer, my roommate had a plethora of magazine subscriptions, which he won in a contest. Mixed in amidst the pile of Popular Mechanics, Golf and Hunting Illustrated, there was Rolling Stone.
Rolling Stone was never a reading staple for me. I would classify my reading preferences as "classy, celebrity smut." Most of the magazines that my roommate received, unfortunately did not meet this criteria, but I was happily introduced to Rolling Stone.
What I liked most about Rolling Stone, was their commitment to as many facets of music as possible. The first one that I picked up was July edition with Lady Gaga on the cover. I read that article, which was well-written, minus the fact that it was all about Lady Gaga. But, I was pleasantly surprised that many other articles focused on either up and coming artists, or artists that continue to make contributions to music, but are not "popular."
Although, I think that most people pick up the magazine for the cover, do people really want to read about articles about musicians that are not on the hit charts?

I hope so.

Although what grabs people's attention are scandalous pictures of Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Green Day, I think Rolling Stone tries to stay true to music, the foundations of music, and the progression of the industry.