It focuses on Richie Finestra, American Century Records founder and president, whose passion for music and discovering talent has gone by the wayside.
With his American Century Records on the verge of being sold, a life-altering event rekindles Finestra's professional fire, but it may leave his personal life in ruins.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.753 million household viewers and gained a 0.24 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
They offer him a chance to avoid a lengthy sentence by incriminating Galasso (Armen Garo) and plead guilty to another charge.
Maury Gold (Paul Ben-Victor) attends a meeting with American Century, where he pitches a 50s compilation LP, unimpressing the executives, while Zak (Ray Romano) states he plans to sign Gary (Douglas Smith) as a new talent.
Richie visits Devon (Olivia Wilde) at the Chelsea Hotel, finding that she is now in a relationship with Billy McVicar (Richard Short).
In March 2016, HBO announced that the ninth episode of the series would be titled "Rock and Roll Queen", and that it would be written by Debora Cahn, and directed by Carl Franklin.
Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "good" 7.6 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "Richie's crazed guilty feelings over Buck Rogers, and close calls with the cops, have never been my favorite part of Vinyl.
Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "When Zak beats the shit out of Richie in an elevator at the end of 'Rock And Roll Queen,' he may as well be a stand-in for the audience.
"[6] Noel Murray of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Once again, Vinyl is all the better for focusing on the business side of Richie's life.
While the show still has plenty of over-the-top moments where it tries to funnel emotions through a Marshall stack, it now lets many of its scenes, like the silent staring contest between Richie and Billy, play on a human scale.
"[10] Robert Ham of Paste wrote, "I'd like to imagine that the roach we see crawling around the jail cell at the beginning of this week's episode of Vinyl is something like the rat that pops up at the very end of The Departed: a not-so-subtle reminder that we're in the company of some pretty despicable people.