By Houston Williams
VIBE magazine has shut down.
The magazine was launched in 1993 by music industry legend Quincy Jones and it served as as widely revered urban magazine.
"On behalf the VIBE CONTENT staff (the best in this business), it is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today," said Danyel Smith, former Chief Content Officer of Vibe Media Group and Editor in Chief of Vibe.
"We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news," Smith said in a statement released to AllHipHop.com. "It’s a tragic week in overall, but as the doors of VIBE Media Group close, on the eve of the magazine’s sixteenth anniversary, it’s a sad day for music, for hip hop in particular, and for the millions of readers and users who have loved and who continue to love the VIBE brand. We thank you, we have served you with joy, pride and excellence, and we will miss you."
In the 90's, VIBE experienced meteoric success as a business and an outlet for urban journalism.
It has ailed under the ownership of private equity firm Wicks Group of Companies, AOL reported.
The magazine had seen a dramatic reduction in ad pages and circulation.
Earlier this year, employees were put on a four-day workweek and other cuts were made such as scaling back to 10 issues per year.
There is speculation that the magazine will transform into an online-only entity.