The Rolling Stones

By the late 1960s, when the Rolling Stones first proclaimed themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band, their résumé already supported the boast. Positioned during the British Invasion as the deliberately menacing counterpart to the Beatles' upbeat Merseybeat, the group forged the raw, propulsive blues-rooted rock & roll that would later shape hard rock itself. Mick Jagger embodied the archetypal frontman through his strutting bravado and underlying menace, blending overt masculinity with a cool, ironic detachment; meanwhile Keith Richards and Brian Jones established the model for tightly woven, sinewy dual guitars. Supported by the steady, lightly swinging rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, the Stones quickly rose above fellow British blues acts such as the Animals and Them. Although they never abandoned their blues foundation, commercial success in Britain prompted immediate stylistic experiments that absorbed the pop sensibilities of peers including the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Who. After a short psychedelic phase, the band reappeared at decade's end as a hardened, blues-drenched hard-rock five-piece. Long fascinated by rock's darker undercurrents, they now openly celebrated the era's unraveling counterculture. Challenges persisted: Brian Jones was dismissed and soon discovered dead in a swimming pool, while a 1969 free concert at Altamont ended in the fatal stabbing of a fan. Yet the Stones pressed forward. Over the following five decades they kept recording and touring; even when individual albums failed to top charts, the band remained the most conspicuous act of its generation. No other British contemporaries matched their sustained popularity or output, and no subsequent group has commanded so wide an audience or left so pervasive an imprint on both sound and image.

Mick Jagger on vocals and Keith Richards on guitar and vocals have always formed the creative nucleus. The two first crossed paths as schoolboys at Dartford Maypole County Primary School, then lost touch for roughly a decade before reuniting in 1960 through mutual acquaintance Dick Taylor, then studying alongside Richards at Sidcup Art School. At that moment Jagger was enrolled at the London School of Economics and performing with Taylor in Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys. Richards soon joined the same outfit. Within twelve months they encountered Cheltenham native Brian Jones, who had abandoned formal education to pursue saxophone and clarinet. Already notorious on the British blues circuit, Jones had fled to Scandinavia at sixteen and fathered two children before returning to play with the Ramrods and later joining Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. in London. Eager to lead his own ensemble, he placed an advertisement that attracted pianist Ian Stewart.

While fronting his own combo, Jones also performed under the alias Elmo Jones at the Ealing Blues Club, where he reconnected with Blues Inc. now featuring Charlie Watts and occasionally Jagger and Richards. The three became close and began jamming with Taylor and Stewart; Jagger eventually assumed lead-vocal duties for Blues Inc. With drummer Tony Chapman they cut a demo that EMI rejected, after which Taylor departed to attend the Royal College of Art and later founded the Pretty Things. Before his exit the group adopted the name the Rolling Stones, taken from a Muddy Waters song. Their debut appearance took place at London's Marquee Club on 12 July 1962, with Jagger, Richards, Jones, Ian Stewart, Mick Avory, and a briefly returning Taylor. Weeks later Taylor left permanently; Bill Wyman, late of the Cliftons, replaced him. Avory exited to join the Kinks, and the unreliable Chapman was succeeded by Charlie Watts, who had quit Blues Inc. for an advertising job. By 1963 the classic lineup was intact and the band launched an eight-month residency at the Crawdaddy Club that swelled their following and drew the notice of manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Oldham quickly signed the group from under Crawdaddy proprietor Giorgio Gomelsky, then cultivated their image as the rebellious antithesis to the Beatles. He eased the stocky, mild-mannered Stewart out of the performing lineup, though Stewart remained a vital road manager and session player until his death in 1985.

With Oldham's guidance the Stones secured a Decca contract and issued their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On," in June 1963. It reached number 21, prompting festival and package-tour dates. By year's end their version of Lennon-McCartney's "I Wanna Be Your Man" climbed into the Top 15. Early 1964 brought Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," which peaked at number three in Britain and number 48 in the United States. By then the Stones had become tabloid fixtures in Britain, their public image sealed by sensational reports of public urination that reinforced their outlaw aura and fueled a calculated rivalry with the Beatles, accelerating their American breakthrough. Their self-titled debut album arrived in spring 1964, followed by the U.K. number-one single "It's All Over Now."

That summer they toured the States amid frenzied audiences, pausing to record the Five by Five EP at Chess Studios in Chicago. Before the trek concluded they scored another British chart-topper with Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster." Oldham then steered Jagger and Richards toward original material to maximize publishing revenue. Their first self-penned single, "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)," entered the U.S. Top 40 in June 1964; soon afterward Irma Thomas's "Time Is on My Side" became their initial American Top Ten. "The Last Time" followed in early 1965, topping the U.K. chart and reaching the U.S. Top Ten, inaugurating an unbroken run of Jagger-Richards hits. Global superstardom arrived that summer with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," whose fuzz-guitar riff, conceived to mimic horns, announced the duo's emergence as songwriters crafting expansive bluesy hooks and caustic lyrics. The track held number one for four weeks and launched a two-year streak of Top Ten singles that included "Get Off My Cloud," "19th Nervous Breakdown," "As Tears Go By," and "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?"

In 1966 the Stones answered the Beatles' sonic sophistication with Aftermath, their first album of entirely original material. Jones's growing interest in exotic instrumentation produced sitar-driven "Paint It, Black" and the Eastern drones of "I'm Going Home." Those eclectic touches carried into the pop-oriented Between the Buttons (1967). Its release was framed by controversy: the Stones performed the suggestive "Let's Spend the Night Together" on The Ed Sullivan Show, prompting Jagger to mumble the title, and in February 1967 Jagger and Richards were arrested for drug possession, followed three months later by Jones's own arrest. All received suspended sentences. While the summer of love flourished, the band withdrew; Jagger and Marianne Faithfull joined the Beatles to meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and appeared in the global broadcast of "All You Need Is Love." Their next single, the psychedelic "Dandelion"/"We Love You," preceded the mixed-reception album Their Satanic Majesties Request.

Psychedelia proved fleeting. By early 1968 the Stones dismissed Oldham, installed Allen Klein as manager, and rediscovered driving rock & roll, aided by Richards's adoption of open tunings that produced their signature thick, powerful tone. The menacing "Jumpin' Jack Flash" reached number three in May 1968. Beggar's Banquet, delayed five months by its provocative toilet-graffiti sleeve, finally appeared that autumn and was hailed as a masterpiece for its raw blues and sardonic country excursions. Though celebrated as a return to form, the album also marked Brian Jones's final chapter. Increasingly sidelined by addiction and friction with Jagger and Richards, Jones departed on 9 June 1969, citing artistic differences. Less than a month later, on 3 July, he was found dead in his swimming pool; the coroner recorded "death by misadventure," yet speculation persisted for years.

Mick Taylor, formerly of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, had already been recruited. He did not appear on the number-one single "Honky Tonk Women," released days after Jones's funeral, and contributed only a few leads to Let It Bleed. Issued in autumn 1969, the album spanned sessions with both Jones and Taylor yet signaled a new ragged, hedonistic direction. After Jagger filmed Ned Kelly in Australia, the Stones embarked on their first American tour in three years, billed as the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band. Record-breaking crowds attended, but the free Altamont concert ended in tragedy when Hell's Angels security, recommended by the Grateful Dead, killed Meredith Hunter during the set. "Sympathy for the Devil" was dropped amid ensuing criticism. The band retreated, releasing the live Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! in autumn 1970 before launching Rolling Stones Records under Atlantic.

Jagger starred in Nicolas Roeg's Performance and married Nicaraguan model Bianca Perez Morena de Macias in 1970, entering high society, while Richards bonded with Gram Parsons. Richards's influence shaped 1971's Sticky Fingers, the first release on the new label. Tax exile in France followed, where the group recorded the double album Exile on Main St., released in May 1972 to initial criticism yet later regarded as a landmark.

Thereafter the band split along personal lines: Jagger embraced celebrity while Richards battled heroin addiction. Critical favor dipped even as commercial success continued; Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (1974) both topped charts but drew muted praise. Taylor exited after the latter album. Ron Wood, ex-Faces and Rod Stewart guitarist, joined in 1976 as Black and Blue appeared with only minimal Wood contributions. Side projects proliferated; Richards was arrested in Canada in 1977 alongside Anita Pallenberg, received a suspended sentence, and eventually sobered.

The 1978 album Some Girls responded energetically to punk, new wave, and disco; both the record and its single "Miss You" reached number one, restoring momentum. Emotional Rescue (1980) also hit the summit but garnered cooler reviews. Tattoo You (1981) fared better, buoyed by "Start Me Up" and "Waiting on a Friend" and spending nine weeks at number one. Its stadium tour was documented in Hal Ashby's film Let's Spend the Night Together and the live album Still Life (1982).

Thereafter chart and arena dominance waned. Mid-1980s tensions between Jagger and Richards over musical direction produced uneven albums such as Undercover (1983) and Dirty Work (1986). While Jagger pursued solo work, Richards released the gold-certified Talk Is Cheap (1988). The pair reconciled late that year, yielding Steel Wheels (1989), whose supporting tour grossed more than $140 million. Flashpoint (1991) captured those shows; afterward Bill Wyman departed and later published Stone Alone.

The group reconvened in 1994 with bassist Darryl Jones, veteran of Miles Davis and Sting, for the Don Was-produced Voodoo Lounge, which earned their first Grammy for Best Rock Album and supported an even larger tour. Stripped (1995) followed, as did No Security (1998) after the Bridges to Babylon tour. A 2002 greatest-hits trek yielded Live Licks (2004), and A Bigger Bang appeared in 2005.

Martin Scorsese filmed two Beacon Theatre concerts in 2006; Shine a Light, featuring guests Buddy Guy, Jack White, and Christina Aguilera, reached U.K. number two upon its 2008 release. Subsequent archival activity included Keith Richards's acclaimed memoir Life (2010) and expanded editions of Exile on Main St. (2010) and Some Girls (2011), plus official digital releases from the Rolling Stones Archive. The 50th anniversary in 2012 brought a book, the documentary Crossfire Hurricane, the compilation GRRR!, and celebratory concerts that included guest appearances by Mick Taylor, culminating at Glastonbury and two Hyde Park shows whose highlights surfaced as Sweet Summer Sun: Live in Hyde Park.

Regular touring continued, highlighted by a March 2016 Havana concert, while new material was prepared. The 2016 box set The Rolling Stones in Mono preceded Blue & Lonesome, a Chicago-blues covers album and the band's first studio release in eleven years. Further archival projects followed: a 50th-anniversary edition of Their Satanic Majesties Request and the first official issue of their 1960s BBC sessions, On Air (both 2017). The No Filter tour extended into 2019, delayed briefly by Jagger's emergency heart surgery; Honk, focusing on post-1971 material, appeared in April 2019, followed by Bridges to Bremen and a 50th-anniversary edition of Let It Bleed.

"Living in a Ghost Town," released in April 2020, marked the first new original material since 2012 and drew from sessions dating back to 2015. A deluxe Goats Head Soup reissue followed. On 5 August 2021 the band announced that health issues would prevent Charlie Watts from joining an upcoming U.S. leg, with Steve Jordan substituting. Watts died in London on 24 August 2021 at age eighty. The No Filter tour resumed in September with Jordan behind the kit for the celebratory Sixty Tour in 2022, which also saw the release of Live at the El Mocambo, documenting 1977 club dates. After years of work the Stones completed their first album of original songs since 2005; largely produced by Andrew Watt, Hackney Diamonds appeared in October 2023, incorporating Watts's final sessions plus contributions from Paul McCartney, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, and, for the first time since 1989, original bassist Bill Wyman.