The Rolling Stones

Artist: The Rolling Stones

Group Members:

Ian Stewart, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Mick Taylor, Mick Jagger, Mick Avory, Dick Taylor

Similar Artists:

The Pretty Things, The Yardbirds, The Who, Them, Rod Stewart, Gram Parsons, John Mayall, Little Feat, The Kinks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, The Animals, Manfred Mann, Eric Clapton, The Georgia Satellites, J. Geils Band, Bob Dylan, Ry Cooder, David Bowie, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Jeff Beck, Aerosmith, Paul Butterfield, Long John Baldry, Sweet Justice, Walkie Talkie, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Seger, Ronnie Lane, Sly & Robbie, Carla Olson, Sheryl Crow, Izzy Stradlin, Ian McLagan, Lowell George, Tom Jones, The Hollies, ZZ Top, Johnny Winter, T. Rex, The Small Faces, Mitch Ryder, The Replacements, Queen, The Pretenders, New York Dolls, MC5, Love, Led Zeppelin, The Downliners Sect, Dire Straits, The Spencer Davis Group, Cream, The Dave Clark Five, Alex Chilton, The Black Crowes, The Allman Brothers Band, Cyril Davies, Oasis

Influenced By:

Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Rev. Gary Davis, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Alexis Korner, Howlin' Wolf, Elvis Presley, Arthur Alexander, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh

Followers:

Lions in the Street, Hammond Gamble, Louis XIV, Puppies, Charlie Don't Shake, Ro-d-y-s, ¡Los Checkmates!, The Carlsonics, Popeda, Bees, The Prime Movers, Red Red Meat, Ronnie Bird, Johnny Thunders, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Patti Smith, Bob Seger, Mott the Hoople, John Mellencamp, Los Lobos, John Cafferty, Duane Allman, Paul Westerberg, Liz Phair, Bash & Pop, 13th Floor Elevators, The Verve, Carla Olson, Cracker, Marc Bolan, Izzy Stradlin, Sloan, Chesterfield Kings, Royal Trux, Dan Baird, Wolfe, The Rationals, Steve Marriott, The International Submarine Band, Inmates, Hombres, Lowell George, Ducks Deluxe, The Count Five, Cactus, Delaney Bramlett, Blues Magoos, Urge Overkill, Primal Scream, Jim Morrison, Grin, Dramarama, Bonnie Bramlett, ZZ Top, Neil Young, World Party, The Who, The Troggs, That Petrol Emotion, Ten Years After, T. Rex, The Stranglers, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, The Soup Dragons, Social Distortion, The Smiths, The Smithereens, Doug Sahm, Mitch Ryder, The Replacements, Redd Kross, The Ramones, ? & the Mysterians, Pussy Galore, The Pretenders, Iggy Pop, Tom Petty, Joe Perry, Gram Parsons, Graham Parker, NRBQ, New York Dolls, MC5, Lyres, Lynyrd Skynyrd, London Quireboys, Nils Lofgren, Little Feat, Elton John, David Johansen, Joan Jett, Python Lee Jackson, INXS, Ian Hunter, Hindu Love Gods, Happy Mondays, Guns N' Roses, The Guess Who, Joe Grushecky, The Georgia Satellites, J. Geils Band, Free, John Fogerty, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, The Flamin' Groovies, Faces, Drivin' N' Cryin', The Dictators, Mink DeVille, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crazy Horse, Alice Cooper, Joe Cocker, The Chocolate Watchband, Alex Chilton, The Charlatans UK, The Chambers Brothers, Canned Heat, Jon Bon Jovi, The Blasters, Black Oak Arkansas, The Black Crowes, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Barry & the Remains, Angels, Dave Alvin, The Allman Brothers Band, Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, AC/DC, Republic of Loose, Jonny Lives!, American Minor, Coque Malla, Day One, Eagles of Death Metal, Boas, Stefan Sundström, Octobre, Jade, The Lost Souls, The Shams, Callejeros, Leusemia, The Faults, Vending Machine, Malanga, Texas Terri, Jumbo, Holy Childhood, Träd, Gräs och Stenar, The Go, Ebba Grön, The Crust Brothers, The Wha?, The Shy Guys, Weddings, Parties, Anything, Tommy Womack, Nashville Pussy, Wilmer X, Brian Jones Was Murdered, Royal Crush, Lovemeknots, Bent Black Tulips, Dead Flowers, Walkie Talkie, Tails, The Super Friendz, Seahorses, Push Kings, Herb Eimermann, Verge, Splitsville, Reef, Cobra Verde, Action Figures, The Stooges, The Shame Idols, The Outsiders, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Van Zant, Steven Tyler, Trent Summar, Steppenwolf, Brad Smith, Slash, Rick Nielsen, Joe López, Molly Hatchet, Stone Gossard, John Easdale, Slim Dunlap, Rossington Collins Band, Savoy Brown, Richard Ashcroft, .38 Special, Boots, Lilys, Bon Scott, Mannish Boys, Stone Temple Pilots, Plasticland, Perfect, Blind Melon, Teenage Head, Rank Strangers, Naz Nomad, Phil Lynott, Green, Cheepskates, Australian Crawl, The Dogs, Titanic Love Affair, Legal Weapon, Jacobites, Steve Marcus, Jaco Pastorius, Velvet Elvis, Twisted Sister, Robin Trower, Treat Her Right, Pat Travers, The Tragically Hip, Tora Tora, George Thorogood, Thin Lizzy, Billy Squier, Spooky Tooth, Spanic Boys, The Small Faces, Grace Slick, Gene Simmons, The Sex Pistols, The Seeds, Scientists, Richie Sambora, Leon Russell, The Real Kids, Bonnie Raitt, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Page, The Outsiders, Outlaws, Ted Nugent, Elliott Murphy, Mötley Crüe, Michael Monroe, Melanie, Living Colour, David Lindley, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Jefferson Airplane, The Jayhawks, The James Gang, Donnie Iris, Billy Idol, Heart, Great White, Grand Funk Railroad, The Germs, Mark Germino, Rory Gallagher, The Fuzztones, Ace Frehley, Foreigner, Flesh for Lulu, Chris Farlowe, Marianne Faithfull, Melissa Etheridge, Joe Ely, Steve Earle, Dream Syndicate, Dr. Feelgood, The Del-Lords, The Del Fuegos, Def Leppard, The Cult, Ashley Cleveland, Cheap Trick, Peter Case, Cindy Bullens, The Boomtown Rats, Bon Jovi, The Blues Project, Blackfoot, Artful Dodger, Motel Motel, Sugar Creek, Electric Touch, Sandrine, The Bedouins, The Hands, Slow Feet, The Dynamics, Donimique Lise, Wormwood Brothers, Neon Horse, Erin Sax Seymour, The Yellow Hammers, The Blakes, The Mighty Stef, The Childballads, Enemy Rose, Retribution Gospel Choir, David Vandervelde, Iceage Cobra, Hey Negrita, We Are the Fury, Dirt Road Logic, The Answer, Thee Emergency, The Colour, Slackstring, Jinnrail, The Compulsions, The Beefeater Project, Rock N Roll Soldiers, The Haints, Ride the Blinds, Mashina Vremeni, Jackass, Purple Hearts, Deadstring Brothers, Let It Burn, Love Psychedelico, Jason Isbell, Kings of Leon, Coachwhips, The Kill Pill, The Brought Low, Heavy Nopal, Toploader, The Hives, Jess Klein, The Neatbeats, Local Rabbits, Drive-By Truckers, Hurricane #1, Los Ratones Paranoicos, Bent Backed Tulips, The Make-Up, Mundy, Stems, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Mudcrutch, Heavy Stereo, Shed Seven, 18 Wheeler, The Sparrow, Joan Osborne, The Mojo Men, Mother Hips, Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Ettes, Gary Cherone, Tim Burgess, The House of Love, Stairs, Sheryl Crow, Sophie B. Hawkins, Sass Jordan, Charlie Pickett, Ocean Colour Scene, Huxton Creepers, Ton Steine Scherben, Rotary Connection, Medicine Head, The Leaves, Jobriath, Episode Six, Charlie & The Wide Boys, The Walkabouts, Nikki Sudden, Mystic Eyes, Paul Stanley, Ride, Four Horsemen, Roky Erickson, David Bowie, The Rewinds, The Fiery Furnaces, Alabama Blacksnake, The Spades, Silkworm, The Stone Roses, Thomas Mapfumo, The Vasco Era, Homewreckers, Done Wrongs, The Penetrators, Kama Linden, 006, Five Of Us, Kasabian, Gravy, Dt's, The Gris Gris, 22-20s, Black Mountain, Bottom of the Hudson, Spy Island, MuddyKing, Mississippi Cactus, Taoist Cowboys, Dead Sexy, I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House, Brett Smiley, A.C. Cotton, Dragons, Bandera Rota, Viejas Locas, The Warlocks, Rio Verde, Marina Vittoria, Moods for Moderns, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Nervebreakers, Grand Tourism, Nightporters, T.J. Rehmi, For Stars, The Mooney Suzuki, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Los Piojos, Chamber Strings, Euroboys, William Topley, Lordz of Brooklyn, Geraldine, Joey Stec, Ivan Graziani, Gilby Clarke, Oasis, Wayne Kramer, Gasolin, Lazy Cowgirls, Aslan, Cross, Hand of Fate, Band of Susans, Velvet Revolver, Riviera, Grand Champeen, Deerhoof, The Optic Nerve, Chad Allan, The Kills, John Mars

Performed Songs By:

Charles Hardin, Andrew Loog Oldham, Norman Petty, Bobby Womack, Willie Dixon

Formal Connection With:

Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Willie and the Poor Boys, Nicky Hopkins, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Mick Taylor, Mick Jagger, Faces, New Barbarians, Ian Stewart, Andrew Loog Oldham, Chuck Leavell, Bobby Keys

Formed: 1963 01, London, England
Genres: Rock
Representative Albums: "Forty Licks," "Sticky Fingers," "Some Girls"
Representative Songs: "Brown Sugar," "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "Jumpin' Jack Flash"

Biography

By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock. With his preening machismo and latent maliciousness, Mick Jagger became the prototypical rock frontman, tempering his macho showmanship with a detached, campy irony while Keith Richards and Brian Jones wrote the blueprint for sinewy, interlocking rhythm guitars. Backed by the strong yet subtly swinging rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, the Stones became the breakout band of the British blues scene, eclipsing such contemporaries as the Animals and Them. Over the course of their career, the Stones never really abandoned blues, but as soon as they reached popularity in the U.K., they began experimenting musically, incorporating the British pop of contemporaries like the Beatles, Kinks, and Who into their sound. After a brief dalliance with psychedelia, the Stones re-emerged in the late '60s as a jaded, blues-soaked hard rock quintet. The Stones always flirted with the seedy side of rock & roll, but as the hippie dream began to break apart, they exposed and reveled in the new rock culture. It wasn't without difficulty, of course. Shortly after he was fired from the group, Jones was found dead in a swimming pool, while at a 1969 free concert at Altamont, a concertgoer was brutally killed during the Stones' show. But the Stones never stopped going. For the next 30 years, they continued to record and perform, and while their records weren't always blockbusters, they were never less than the most visible band of their era -- certainly, none of their British peers continued to be as popular or productive as the Stones. And no band since has proven to have such a broad fan base or far-reaching popularity, and it is impossible to hear any of the groups that followed them without detecting some sort of influence, whether it was musical or aesthetic.

Throughout their career, Mick Jagger (vocals) and Keith Richards (guitar, vocals) remained at the core of the Rolling Stones. The pair initially met as children at Dartford Maypole County Primary School. They drifted apart over the next ten years, eventually making each other's acquaintance again in 1960, when they met through a mutual friend, Dick Taylor, who was attending Sidcup Art School with Richards. At the time, Jagger was studying at the London School of Economics and playing with Taylor in the blues band Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys. Shortly afterward, Richards joined the band. Within a year, they had met Brian Jones (guitar, vocals), a Cheltenham native who had dropped out of school to play saxophone and clarinet. By the time he became a fixture on the British blues scene, Jones had already had a wild life. He ran away to Scandinavia when he was 16; by that time, he had already fathered two illegitimate children. He returned to Cheltenham after a few months, where he began playing with the Ramrods. Shortly afterward, he moved to London, where he played in Alexis Korner's group, Blues Inc. Jones quickly decided he wanted to form his own group and advertised for members; among those he recruited was the heavyset blues pianist Ian Stewart.

As he played with his group, Jones also moonlighted under the name Elmo Jones at the Ealing Blues Club. At the pub, he became reacquainted with Blues, Inc., which now featured drummer Charlie Watts, and, on occasion, cameos by Jagger and Richards. Jones became friends with Jagger and Richards, and they soon began playing together with Taylor and Stewart; during this time, Mick was elevated to the status of Blues, Inc.'s lead singer. With the assistance of drummer Tony Chapman, the fledgling band recorded a demo tape. After the tape was rejected by EMI, Taylor left the band to attend the Royal College of Art; he would later form the Pretty Things. Before Taylor's departure, the group named itself the Rolling Stones, borrowing the moniker from a Muddy Waters song.

The Rolling Stones gave their first performance at the Marquee Club in London on July 12, 1962. At the time, the group consisted of Jagger, Richards, Jones, pianist Ian Stewart, drummer Mick Avory, and Dick Taylor, who had briefly returned to the fold. Weeks after the concert, Taylor left again and was replaced by Bill Wyman, formerly of the Cliftons. Avory also left the group -- he would later join the Kinks -- and the Stones hired Tony Chapman, who proved to be unsatisfactory. After a few months of persuasion, the band recruited Charlie Watts, who had quit Blues, Inc. to work at an advertising agency once the group's schedule became too hectic. By 1963, the band's lineup had been set, and the Stones began an eight-month residency at the Crawdaddy Club, which proved to substantially increase their fan base. It also attracted the attention of Andrew Loog Oldham, who became the Stones' manager, signing them from underneath Crawdaddy's Giorgio Gomelsky. Although Oldham didn't know much about music, he was gifted at promotion, and he latched upon the idea of fashioning the Stones as the bad-boy opposition to the clean-cut Beatles. At his insistence, the large yet meek Stewart was forced out of the group, since his appearance contrasted with the rest of the group. Stewart didn't disappear from the Stones; he became one of their key roadies and played on their albums and tours until his death in 1985.

With Oldham's help, the Rolling Stones signed with Decca Records, and that June, they released their debut single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On." The single became a minor hit, reaching number 21, and the group supported it with appearances on festivals and package tours. At the end of the year, they released a version of Lennon-McCartney's "I Wanna Be Your Man" that soared into the Top 15. Early in 1964, they released a cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," which shot to number three. "Not Fade Away" became their first American hit, reaching number 48 that spring. By that time, the Stones were notorious in their homeland. Considerably rougher and sexier than the Beatles, the Stones were the subject of numerous sensationalistic articles in the British press, culminating in a story about the band urinating in public. All of these stories cemented the Stones as a dangerous, rebellious band in the minds of the public, and had the effect of beginning a manufactured rivalry between them and the Beatles, which helped the group rocket to popularity in the U.S. In the spring of 1964, the Stones released their eponymous debut album, which was followed by "It's All Over Now," their first U.K. number one. That summer, they toured America to riotous crowds, recording the Five by Five EP at Chess Records in Chicago in the midst of the tour. By the time it was over, they had another number one U.K. single with Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster." Although the Stones had achieved massive popularity, Oldham decided to push Jagger and Richards into composing their own songs, since they -- and his publishing company -- would receive more money that away. In June of 1964, the group released their first original single, "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)," which became their first American Top 40 hit. Shortly afterward, a version of Irma Thomas' "Time Is on My Side" became their first U.S. Top Ten. It was followed by "The Last Time" in early 1965, a number one U.K. and Top Ten U.S. hit that began a virtually uninterrupted string of Jagger-Richards hit singles. Still, it wasn't until the group released "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in the summer of 1965 that they were elevated to superstars. Driven by a fuzz-guitar riff designed to replicate the sound of a horn section, "Satisfaction" signaled that Jagger and Richards had come into their own as songwriters, breaking away from their blues roots and developing a signature style of big, bluesy riffs and wry, sardonic lyrics. It stayed at number one for four weeks and began a string of Top Ten singles that ran for the next two years, including such classics as "Get off My Cloud," "19th Nervous Breakdown," "As Tears Go By," and "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?"

By 1966, the Stones had decided to respond to the Beatles' increasingly complex albums with their first album of all-original material, Aftermath. Due to Brian Jones' increasingly exotic musical tastes, the record boasted a wide range of influences, from the sitar-drenched "Paint It, Black" to the Eastern drones of "I'm Going Home." These eclectic influences continued to blossom on Between the Buttons (1967), the most pop-oriented album the group ever made. Ironically, the album's release was bookended by two of the most notorious incidents in the band's history. Before the record was released, the Stones performed the suggestive "Let's Spend the Night Together," the B-side to the medieval ballad "Ruby Tuesday," on The Ed Sullivan Show, which forced Jagger to alter the song's title to an incomprehensible mumble, or else face being banned. In February of 1967, Jagger and Richards were arrested for drug possession, and within three months, Jones was arrested on the same charge. All three were given suspended jail sentences, and the group backed away from the spotlight as the summer of love kicked into gear in 1967. Jagger, along with his then-girlfriend Marianne Faithfull, went with the Beatles to meet the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; they were also prominent in the international broadcast of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love." Appropriately, the Stones' next single, "Dandelion"/"We Love You," was a psychedelic pop effort, and it was followed by their response to Sgt. Pepper, Their Satanic Majesties Request, which was greeted with lukewarm reviews.

The Stones' infatuation with psychedelia was brief. By early 1968, they had fired Andrew Loog Oldham and hired Allen Klein as their manager. The move coincided with their return to driving rock & roll, which happened to coincide with Richards' discovery of open tunings, a move that gave the Stones their distinctively fat, powerful sound. The revitalized Stones were showcased on the malevolent single "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which climbed to number three in May 1968. Their next album, Beggar's Banquet, was finally released in the fall, after being delayed for five months due its controversial cover art of a dirty, graffiti-laden restroom. An edgy record filled with detours into straight blues and campy country, Beggar's Banquet was hailed as a masterpiece among the fledgling rock press. Although it was seen as a return to form, few realized that while it opened a new chapter of the Stones' history, it also was the closing of their time with Brian Jones. Throughout the recording of Beggar's Banquet, Jones was on the sidelines due to his deepening drug addiction and his resentment of the dominance of Jagger and Richards. Jones left the band on June 9, 1969, claiming to be suffering from artistic differences between himself and the rest of the band. On July 3, 1969 -- less than a month after his departure -- Jones was found dead in his swimming pool. The coroner ruled that it was "death by misadventure," yet his passing was the subject of countless rumors over the next two years.

By the time of his death, the Stones had already replaced Brian Jones with Mick Taylor, a former guitarist for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. He wasn't featured on "Honky Tonk Women," a number one single released days after Jones' funeral, and he contributed only a handful of leads on their next album, Let It Bleed. Released in the fall of 1969, Let It Bleed was comprised of sessions with Jones and Taylor, yet it continued the direction of Beggar's Banquet, signaling that a new era in the Stones' career had begun, one marked by ragged music and an increasingly wasted sensibility. Following Jagger's filming of Ned Kelly in Australia during the first part of 1969, the group launched its first American tour in three years. Throughout the tour -- the first where they were billed as the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band -- the group broke attendance records, but it was given a sour note when the group staged a free concert at Altamont Speedway. On the advice of the Grateful Dead, the Stones hired Hell's Angels as security, but that plan backfired tragically. The entire show was unorganized and in shambles, yet it turned tragic when the Angels killed a young black man, Meredith Hunter, during the Stones' performance. In the wake of the public outcry, the Stones again retreated from the spotlight and dropped "Sympathy for the Devil," which some critics ignorantly claimed incited the violence, from their set.

As the group entered hiatus, they released the live Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! in the fall of 1970. It was their last album for Decca/London, and they formed Rolling Stones Records, which became a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. During 1970, Jagger starred in Nicolas Roeg's cult film Performance and married Nicaraguan model Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, and the couple quickly entered high society. As Jagger was jet-setting, Richards was slumming, hanging out with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. Keith wound up having more musical influence on 1971's Sticky Fingers, the first album the Stones released though their new label. Following its release, the band retreated to France on tax exile, where they shared a house and recorded a double album, Exile on Main St. Upon its May 1972 release, Exile on Main St. was widely panned, but over time it came to be considered one of the group's defining moments.

Following Exile, the Stones began to splinter in two, as Jagger concentrated on being a celebrity and Richards sank into drug addiction. The band remained popular throughout the '70s, but their critical support waned. Goats Head Soup, released in 1973, reached number one, as did 1974's It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, but neither record was particularly well received. Taylor left the band after It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, and the group recorded their next album as they auditioned new lead guitarists, including Jeff Beck. They finally settled on Ron Wood, former lead guitarist for the Faces and Rod Stewart, in 1976, the same year they released Black n' Blue, which only featured Wood on a handful of cuts. During the mid- and late '70s, all the Stones pursued side projects, with both Wyman and Wood releasing solo albums with regularity. Richards was arrested in Canada in 1977 with his common-law wife Anita Pallenberg for heroin possession. After his arrest, he cleaned up and was given a suspended sentence the following year. The band reconvened in 1978 to record Some Girls, an energetic response to punk, new wave, and disco. The record and its first single, the thumping disco-rocker "Miss You," both reached number one, and the album restored the group's image. However, the group squandered that goodwill with the follow-up, Emotional Rescue, a number one record that nevertheless received lukewarm reviews upon its 1980 release. Tattoo You, released the following year, fared better both critically and commercially, as the singles "Start Me Up" and "Waiting on a Friend" helped the album spend nine weeks at number one. The Stones supported Tattoo You with an extensive stadium tour captured in Hal Ashby's movie Let's Spend the Night Together and the 1982 live album Still Life.

Tattoo You proved to be the last time the Stones completely dominated the charts and the stadiums. Although the group continued to sell out concerts in the '80s and '90s, their records didn't sell as well as previous efforts, partially because the albums suffered due to Jagger and Richards' notorious mid-'80s feud. Starting with 1983's Undercover, the duo conflicted about which way the band should go, with Jagger wanting the Stones to follow contemporary trends and Richards wanting them to stay true to their rock roots. As a result, Undercover was a mean-spirited, unfocused record that received relatively weak sales and mixed reviews. Released in 1986, Dirty Work suffered a worse fate, since Jagger was preoccupied with his fledgling solo career. Once Jagger decided that the Stones would not support Dirty Work with a tour, Richards decided to make his own solo record with 1988's Talk Is Cheap. Appearing a year after Jagger's failed second solo album, Talk Is Cheap received good reviews and went gold, prompting Jagger and Richards to reunite late in 1988. The following year, the Stones released Steel Wheels, which was received with good reviews, but the record was overshadowed by its supporting tour, which grossed over 140 million dollars and broke many box office records. In 1991, the live album Flashpoint, which was culled from the Steel Wheels shows, was released.

Following the release of Flashpoint, Bill Wyman left the band; he published a memoir, Stone Alone, within a few years of leaving. The Stones didn't immediately replace Wyman, since they were all working on solo projects; this time, there was none of the animosity surrounding their mid-'80s projects. The group reconvened in 1994 with bassist Darryl Jones, who had previously played with Miles Davis and Sting, to record and release the Don Was-produced Voodoo Lounge. The album received the band's strongest reviews in years, and its accompanying tour was even more successful than the Steel Wheels tour. On top of being more successful than its predecessor, Voodoo Lounge also won the Stones their first Grammy for Best Rock Album. Upon the completion of the Voodoo Lounge tour, the Stones released the live, "unplugged" album Stripped in the fall of 1995. Similarly, after wrapping up their tour in support of 1997's Bridges to Babylon, the group issued yet another live set, No Security, the following year. A high-profile greatest-hits tour in 2002 was launched despite the lack of a studio album to support, and its album document Live Licks appeared in 2004. A year later, the group issued A Bigger Bang, their third effort with producer Don Was. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a word or phrase...

Discography: The Rolling Stones

Top

Show More Albums

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Buy this CD	Emotional Rescue [The USA Collection] Buy this CD	Out of Tears [US] Buy this CD	Sympathy for the Devil [DVD] Buy this CD	It's Only Rock 'N Roll Buy this CD
It's Only Rock 'N Roll Buy this CD	It's Only Rock 'N Roll Buy this CD	Truth or Lies Buy this CD	12 X 5 Buy this CD	12 X 5 Buy this CD
12 X 5 Buy this CD	Don't Stop Buy this CD	Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus Buy this CD	Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus [Video/DVD] Buy this CD	Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus [DVD/Bonus Material] Buy this CD
Rock Milestones: The Singles 1962-1970 Buy this CD	Forty Licks Buy this CD	Forty Licks Buy this CD	Forty Licks [Collector's Edition] Buy this CD	Let It Bleed Buy this CD
Let It Bleed Buy this CD	Let It Bleed Buy this CD	Rarities 1971-2003 Buy this CD	Under Review: 1967-1969 Buy this CD	Jump Back: The Best of the Rolling Stones 1971-1993 Buy this CD
Jump Back: The Best of the Rolling Stones 1971-1993 Buy this CD	Bridges to Babylon Tour '97-'98: Live in Concert Buy this CD	Rolled Gold: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones Buy this CD	Stripped Buy this CD	Like a Rolling Stone Buy this CD
Rock and a Hard Place Buy this CD	Rolled Gold+: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones Buy this CD	Rolled Gold+: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones Buy this CD	Rolled Gold+: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones Buy this CD	Undercover Buy this CD
Undercover Buy this CD	Got Live If You Want It! Buy this CD	Got Live If You Want It! Buy this CD	Got Live If You Want It! Buy this CD	No Security Buy this CD
Live Licks [UK] Buy this CD	Live Licks Buy this CD	Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers) Buy this CD	Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers) Buy this CD	As It Happened Buy this CD
As It Happened Buy this CD	Rock Milestones: High Tide, Green Grass Buy this CD	Exile on Main St. Buy this CD	Exile on Main St. Buy this CD	Exile on Main St. Buy this CD
Singles 1963-1965 Buy this CD	Best of the Rolling Stones [Universal Japan] Buy this CD	Artist's Choice: Rolling Stones Buy this CD	12 X 5 [Japan] Buy this CD	Rolling Stones, Now! [Japan] Buy this CD
Out of Our Heads [Japan] Buy this CD	December's Children (And Everybody's) [Japan] Buy this CD	Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) [Japan] Buy this CD	Aftermath [Japan] Buy this CD	Got Live If You Want It! [Japan] Buy this CD
Between the Buttons [Japan] Buy this CD	Flowers [Japan] Buy this CD	Beggars Banquet [Japan] Buy this CD	Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits, Vol. 2) [Japan] Buy this CD	Let It Bleed [Japan] Buy this CD
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! [Japan] Buy this CD	Hot Rocks, 1964-1971 [Japan] Buy this CD	More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) [Japan] Buy this CD	Singles Collection: The London Years [Japan] Buy this CD	Metamorphosis [UK] Buy this CD
Exile on Main St. [Japan] Buy this CD	Goats Head Soup [Japan] Buy this CD	It's Only Rock 'N Roll [Japan] Buy this CD	Black and Blue [Japan] Buy this CD	Some Girls [Japan] Buy this CD
Emotional Rescue [Japan] Buy this CD	Tattoo You [Japan] Buy this CD	Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers) [Japan] Buy this CD	Just for the Record [Video/DVD] Buy this CD	Sucking in the Seventies Buy this CD
Sucking in the Seventies Buy this CD	Singles 1968-1971 Buy this CD	Emotional Rescue Buy this CD	Emotional Rescue Buy this CD	Emotional Rescue Buy this CD
Interview Picture Disc Buy this CD	Got Live If You Want It! [UK EP] Buy this CD	Some Girls Buy this CD	Some Girls Buy this CD	Some Girls Buy this CD
Some Girls Buy this CD	Made in the Shade Buy this CD	Made in the Shade Buy this CD	Still Life Buy this CD	Biggest Bang Buy this CD
Singles 1965-1967 Buy this CD	Aftermath [Germany] Buy this CD	Voodoo Lounge Buy this CD	Bigger Bang [Bonus DVD] Buy this CD	Interview Buy this CD
Between the Buttons [UK] Buy this CD	Between the Buttons [UK] Buy this CD	Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) [Australia] Buy this CD	Live at the Max [Video/DVD] Buy this CD	Rolling Stones [EP] Buy this CD
Rock Milestones: Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out Buy this CD	Music in Review 1963-1969 Buy this CD	Remastered Series Buy this CD	Bridges to Babylon [Japan Bonus Track] Buy this CD	Rain Fall Down [Canada EP] Buy this CD
Voodoo Lounge [Video] Buy this CD	Forty Licks: New Edition [Japan] Buy this CD	Goats Head Soup Buy this CD	Goats Head Soup Buy this CD	Goats Head Soup Buy this CD
Flashpoint [The USA Collection] Buy this CD	Tattoo You Buy this CD	Tattoo You Buy this CD	Tattoo You Buy this CD	More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) [Bonus Tracks] Buy this CD
More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) [Bonus Tracks] Buy this CD	Streets of Love/Rough Justice Buy this CD	Biggest Mistake Buy this CD	In Performance Buy this CD	5 X 5 Buy this CD
LP Sleeve Box Set Buy this CD	Paint It Black Buy this CD	Rolling Stones: Satisfaction Buy this CD	Sticky Fingers Buy this CD	Sticky Fingers Buy this CD
Sticky Fingers Buy this CD	Sticky Fingers Buy this CD	Black and Blue Buy this CD	Black and Blue Buy this CD	Black and Blue Buy this CD
Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers) [US] Buy this CD	Aftermath [UK] Buy this CD	Aftermath [UK] Buy this CD	Aftermath [UK] Buy this CD	I Go Wild Buy this CD
Shine a Light: Original Soundtrack Buy this CD	Shine a Light: Original Soundtrack Buy this CD	Shine a Light: Original Soundtrack Buy this CD	Shine a Light: Original Soundtrack [Deluxe Edition] Buy this CD	Bigger Bang [Special Edition - Bonus DVD] Buy this CD
Live Licks [Japan Bonus Tracks] Buy this CD	12 X 5/Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Buy this CD	Beggar's Banquet/Black & Blue Buy this CD	Rolling Stones/Undercover Buy this CD	No Security [Japan Bonus Track] Buy this CD
Wild Horses Buy this CD	Rolling Stones Interviews Buy this CD	Sold Stones: Stoned Alone Buy this CD	Love Is Strong Buy this CD	Out of Tears [UK] Buy this CD
Flashpoint Buy this CD	Greatest Rarities, Vol. 1 Buy this CD	Greatest Rarities, Vol. 2 Buy this CD	Highwire [Import CD #3] Buy this CD	Ruby Tuesday [Sony] Buy this CD
Steel Wheels Buy this CD	Singles Collection: The London Years Buy this CD	Singles Collection: The London Years Buy this CD	Singles Collection: The London Years Buy this CD	Dirty Work Buy this CD
Hot Rocks 2 [Disc 2] Buy this CD	Rewind (1971-1984) Buy this CD	Metamorphosis Buy this CD	Metamorphosis Buy this CD	More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) Buy this CD
Jamming with Edward! Buy this CD	Hot Rocks, 1964-1971 Buy this CD	Hot Rocks, 1964-1971 Buy this CD	Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits, Vol. 2) Buy this CD	Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits, Vol. 2) Buy this CD
Beggars Banquet Buy this CD	Beggars Banquet Buy this CD	Beggars Banquet Buy this CD	Their Satanic Majesties Request Buy this CD	Their Satanic Majesties Request Buy this CD
Flowers Buy this CD	Flowers Buy this CD	Flowers Buy this CD	Between the Buttons [US] Buy this CD	Between the Buttons [US] Buy this CD
Between the Buttons [US] Buy this CD	Aftermath Buy this CD	Aftermath Buy this CD	Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) Buy this CD	Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) Buy this CD
Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) Buy this CD	December's Children (And Everybody's) Buy this CD	December's Children (And Everybody's) Buy this CD	December's Children (And Everybody's) Buy this CD	Out of Our Heads Buy this CD
Out of Our Heads Buy this CD	Rolling Stones, Now! Buy this CD	Rolling Stones, Now! Buy this CD	Rolling Stones, Now! Buy this CD	Bridges to Bremen Buy this CD
Under Review: 1962-1966 Buy this CD	Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers) [Germany] Buy this CD	December's Children (And Everybody's)/Sticky Fingers Buy this CD	Some Girls/Emotional Rescue Buy this CD

Show Fewer Albums

Actor: The Rolling Stones

Top

Occupation: Actor
Active: '60s-2000s
Major Genres: Music
Career Highlights: GoodFellas, Mean Streets, Full Metal Jacket
First Major Screen Credit: Charlie Is My Darling (1966)

Biography

Formed in London in 1963, The Rolling Stones would by the end of that decade be among the world's most celebrated rock bands, but unlike their friendly rivals The Beatles, The Rolling Stones were never able to translate their charisma and musical smarts into a successful career in the movies. The Rolling Stones grew out of the fertile British blues scene that began to take root during the skiffle craze of the mid '50's, and when the meteoric rise of the Beatles expanded the boundaries of what was possible for a British rock group, The Rolling Stones were shrewd enough to capitalize on the dichotomy between the two bands -- while The Beatles were likable mop-tops who played upbeat pop music nearly anyone could enjoy, The Stones played much grittier blues-based music and assumed a tough, rebellious image that made them scary to grown-ups but appealing to teens. This also limited their film careers, however; while the Fab Four displayed a natural wit and easy onscreen charm, the most charismatic Stone, Mick Jagger, hardly looked or acted like a matinee idol, and while Brian Jones may have had a movie star's appearance, he was far more interested in playing guitar than facing the camera. One also wonders what a director would have made of Keith Richards' stoic surliness or the "stand in the back and chew gum" facelessness of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman.

While the Rolling Stones' manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, periodically announced feature film projects for his boys, none ever appeared (they at one time were attached to the Dirk Bogarde vehicle The Singer Not the Song, though their participation was eventually limited to writing the title song). But the continuing popularity of The Rolling Stones and their dynamic live show ensured that they popped up in a significant number of concert documentaries over the years. 1964's The T.A.M.I. Show found them headlining a stellar bill of rock and R&B hitmakers (including James Brown, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, and the Supremes), with the band looking a bit green but plenty enthusiastic. The band's 1966 tour of Ireland was the focus of Charlie Is My Darling, while two years later director Jean-Luc Godard used footage of the Stones recording "Sympathy For The Devil" as a framing device for his look at youth politics and global revolution in Sympathy For the Devil (aka One Plus One). In 1969, the Rolling Stones decided to wind up their riotous U.S. tour (their first American dates with new guitarist Mick Taylor, who replaced the late Brian Jones) with a free concert in San Francisco. The result was the band's single most infamous show, the Altamont Speedway concert, caught on film by David Maysles and Albert Maysles in the disquieting documentary Gimme Shelter. While Gimme Shelter captured the Rolling Stones in superb form, the film didn't make them look like terribly nice people, and periodically the band attempted to create another film that would document their potent stage show in a better light. For the group's 1972 American tour, photographer and experimental filmmaker Robert Frank was brought along to make a movie about the Stones; Frank was given total access to the band's activities both on- and off-stage, and he put every scandalous moment of The Stones' debauched lifestyle into CS Blues -- so much so that the band successfully pursued legal action to prevent the film from being released, though Frank was given permission to screen the film once a year, with the director in attendance. (In its place, the band released the competent but unexciting Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones). In 1981, the band teamed up with veteran director and editor Hal Ashby for Let's Spend the Night Together, a feature assembled from the group's stadium tour of that year; the shows found The Stones in less than exciting form, and Ashby's fondness for cutting from one performance to another in mid-song was more disorienting than exciting. (This was also the first Stones concert feature after Ron Wood replaced Mick Taylor on guitar.) And in 1991, The Rolling Stones gave it yet another try with At the Max; director Julian Temple shot the film in the high-definition IMAX format, which attempted to recreate the excitement of a Stones show with a massive, curved screen that enveloped the audience and a six-track, stereo-sound mix. Since the rise of home video, a steady stream of concert films and retrospective features on the band have appeared, with no end in sight for Stones fans looking for a dose of Mick and Keith's deadly charisma.

Several of The Stones have also worked in films when not busy with the band's commitments. Mick Jagger has acted in several films starting with Tony Richardson's Ned Kelly in 1970, and though he was forced to back out of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, a few scenes he shot for the film appeared in Les Blank's documentary about its troubled production, Burden Of Dreams. Jagger also co-wrote Running Out of Luck, a short feature designed to help promote his first solo album. Brian Jones tried his hand at writing music for films by scoring the 1967 drama Mord Und Todschlag, which starred his then-paramour Anita Pallenberg. Ron Wood made cameo appearances in the comedies The Wild Life and All You Need Is Cash (the latter also featured Jagger as himself in a mock-interview segment). After leaving The Stones, Mick Taylor appeared as a musician in the drama The Last of the Finest, and contributed to the score of Bad City Blues. And Bill Wyman has written scores for a number of pictures, starting with 1981's Green Ice. ~ All Movie Guide

Filmography: The Rolling Stones

Top

Show More Movies

Ready Steady Go, Vol. 1

Buy this Movie

Let's Spend the Night Together

Buy this Movie

The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter

Buy this Movie

Sympathy for the Devil

Buy this Movie

The Rolling Stones: Rock and Roll Circus

Buy this Movie

Hullabaloo, Vol. 6

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Buy this Movie

Show Fewer Movies

Biography: The Rolling Stones

Top

The Rolling Stones, having outlasted nearly all of their 1960s contemporaries, continue to belt out hits well into middle age. Original members included lead singer Mick Jagger (Michael Philip Jagger, born July 26, 1943, in Dartford, Kent, England); guitarist Keith Richard (surname sometimes listed as Richards, born December 18, 1943, in Dartford, Kent, England); guitarist Brian Jones (Lewis Brian Hopkins-Jones, born February 28, 1942, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, drowned, July 3, 1969); drummer Tony Chapman; bass player Dick Taylor; and pianist Ian Stewart. Drummer Charlie Watts (Charles Robert Watts, born June 2, 1941, in Islington, England) replaced Chapman c. 1962; bass guitarist Bill Wyman (William Perks, born October 24, 1936 [some sources say 1941]) replaced Dick Taylor c. 1962; guitarist Mick Taylor (born January 17, 1948, in Hertfordshire, England) replaced Jones, July 1969; guitarist Ron Wood (born June 1, 1947, in London, England) replaced Mick Taylor, 1975; bass guitarist Darryl Jones replaced Bill Wyman, 1993. Current members include Jagger, Richard, Watts, Wood, and Jones.

Often billed as "the world's greatest rock and roll band," the Rolling Stones have earned the title; if not for their musical prowess, then certainly for their longevity. Formation of the group began back as early as 1949 when Keith Richard and Mick Jagger, both from Dartford, England, went to school together. It would take another eleven years, however, before their paths would cross again. To their amazement, they discovered that both of them had grown up listening to the same great American bluesmen and rockers like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. The two formed a friendship that was based around one common interest: music.

At the time, Jagger was attending London's School of Economics while Richard was struggling at Sidcup Art College. Soon they found out about a local musician named Alexis Korner who held blues jams at the Ealing Club. After Jagger began to sing for Korner's Blues Incorporated, he decided to join a group that Richard was putting together. Other members included Ian Stewart, Dick Taylor, Tony Chapman, and a guitar player named Brian Jones.

Jones was quite different from the rest of the lads. Although only one year older than Jagger and Richard, he had already parented two illegitimate children by the time he was sixteen. And while Richard was more into the Berry school of rock guitar, Jones was pure blues and often referred to himself as Elmo Lewis (in reference to the slide guitarist, Elmore James).

Charlie Watts was already making a fair living drumming for a jazz combo when he was persuaded to replace Tony Chapman. The oldest member, a rocking bassist, Bill Wyman, hooked up immediately after to complete the rhythm section. With the shrewd talents of manager/publicist Andrew Loog Oldham, they began opening for Blues Inc. at London's Marquee Club in 1963, billed as " Brian Jones and The Rollin' Stones" (after a Muddy Waters tune). Dick Taylor was no longer in the band at this time.

With hair longer than any other group and an attitude that made the Beatles look like choir boys, the Stones took full advantage of their image as "the group parents love to hate." "That old idea of not letting white children listen to black music is true," Jagger told Jonathan Cott, "cause if you want white children to remain what they are, they mustn't." Their negative public image was constantly fueled by Oldham, who also decided that Stewart's neanderthal presence did not fit in with the rest of the band and so delegated him to the background, never seen but often heard.

Oldham quickly secured the Stones a contract with Decca Records and in June of 1963 they released their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On" backed with "I Want to Be Loved." Reaction was good and it would only take another six months for the group to make it big. Continuing their eight-month residence at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, they released their version of the Beatles "I Wanna Be Your Man" followed by Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," which made it to Number 3 in Great Britain. Their fourth single would climb all the way to the top in their homeland, "It's All Over Now" by Bobby Womack. Their next hit, "Little Red Rooster," likewise reached Number 1 but was banned in the United States.

Satisfaction

The Rolling Stones already had two albums out in England by the time they broke the U.S. Top 10 with "The Last Time," written by Jagger and Richard. And in the summer of 1965 they had a worldwide Number 1 hit with "Satisfaction." Propelled by Richard's fuzz-tone riff and Jagger's lyrics of a man who couldn't get enough, the song immediately secured a seat in rock history. Oldham had played up the outlaw image of the band to the point where they became the image, and he was no longer needed.

Allan Klein took over as manager and in 1966, after having relied on other artist's songs, they released their first all-originals LP, Aftermath. The band was plagued with drug busts during the psychedelic era and in 1967 recorded their reply to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, titled Their Satanic Majesties Request. The album paled in comparison to the Beatles' masterpiece and is noted mainly as the last album Brian Jones truly worked on, having become too involved in drugs.

With Jones largely out for the count, Richard came into his own on 1968's Beggar's Banquet. His acoustic guitar sounded as full as an orchestra on "Street Fighting Man," and one of the most deadly electric solos of all time can be found on "Sympathy for the Devil." It was obvious the Stones didn't need Jones dragging them down anymore and he officially quit (or was booted out) on June 9, 1969. Less than one month later he was found drowned in a swimming pool with the official cause listed as "death by misadventure."

Two days later, the Stones had their replacement in Mick Taylor, former guitarist for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. His first gig was a free concert in memory of Jones at Hyde Park. Taylor's influence would bring the level of musicianship up a few notches until he quit in 1975. Their first album after he joined was still mostly a Richard album, however. Let It Bleed was released to coincide with an American tour and contained two haunting tunes, "Midnight Rambler" and "Gimme Shelter." The latter became the title of the movie documenting the Stones' free concert at Altamont, California, at which Hell's Angels members (hired as security guards) stabbed a youth to death right in front of the stage. The group also released an album from that tour, Get Yer Ya Ya's Out.

Exiles

In 1971 The Stones formed their own label, Rolling Stones Records, and began to expand their musical horizons. Sticky Fingers contained jazz with "Can't You Hear Me Knockin," while the country-flavored "Dead Flowers" continued the trend of "Honky Tonk Women." Their next album, Exile on Main Street, oddly enough, was dismissed by critics when it came out, but over the years has come to be regarded as probably their finest recording. With Richard hanging out with Gram Parsons, the country influence was stronger than ever but the album also contains gospel ("I Just Want To See His Face"), blues ("Shake Your Hips"), and full-tilt rock ("Rip This Joint"). It is four sides of vintage Stones at their tightest, and loosest.

Their next two albums, Goat's Head Soup and It's Only Rock and Roll, contain both outstanding tracks and what some critics considered real dogs. "Time Waits For No One," with a beautiful solo by Taylor, shows just how much the Stones had changed, yet tracks like "Star Star" reveal just the opposite: the bad boys of rock just couldn't grow up. Five years was enough for Taylor and in 1975 he decided to walk away from one of the most sought-after positions in rock. "The fact is I was becoming stagnant and lazy with the Stones. l really got off on playing with them, but it wasn't enough of a challenge," he told Rolling Stone.

Rumors about who would take Taylor's place included such guitar greats as Roy Buchanan, Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton, and Rory Gallagher, but the obvious choice was Faces guitarist, Ron Wood. Wood fit the Stones mold perfectly, with the same musical roots and a look that was almost a carbon copy of Richard. Wood pinch-hit for Taylor on the 1975 tour of America, bounding back and forth with the Faces before finally joining the Stones full-time. The first full album he contributed to was Black and Blue in 1976. Once again the Stones stretched out by dabbling in reggae ("Cherry Oh"), disco ("Hot Stuff"), and a smoky lounge lizard treatment on "Melody." The group's future was in doubt in 1977 when Richard was busted in Toronto for heroin dealing, but his sentence did not include any jail time. "Drugs were never a problem," he told Edna Gundersen. "Policemen were a problem."

After 1978's classic Some Girls, the next Stones' records seem indistinguishable from each other. The songs are vehicles for Richard's guitar hooks with nothing equaling the emotion of previous hits like "You Can't Always Get What You Want" or "Moonlight Mile." Only the hit "Start Me Up" stands out from this period.

Everyone Was Hating Each Other

During the 1980s, rumors swirled constantly that the Rolling Stones would break up. Jagger would do nothing to dispel the rumors. Richard was reportedly not too happy when Jagger took time off to work on his solo album (even though Wyman and Wood both have records outside the group). Then Jagger refused to tour to support the Stones' Dirty Work LP, instead hitting the road to promote his own She's The Boss. "Touring Dirty Work would have been a nightmare," Jagger told Rolling Stone, "It was a terrible period. Everyone was hating each other so much; there were so many disagreements. It was very petty; everyone was so out of their brains, and Charlie was in seriously bad shape … It would have been the worst Rolling Stones tour. Probably would have been the end of the band." Richard, who had himself toured with Wood's New Barbarians in 1979, was outraged that Jagger would make the Stones a second choice. "I felt like I had failed. l couldn't keep my band together," he told the Detroit Free Press. Pursuing his own solo project, he stated that the Stones will "have to wait for me. They kind of pushed me into this solo thing, which I really didn't want, and now they're paying a price." Richard released his own album, Talk Is Cheap, with plenty of barbs for Jagger. "I'm enjoying myself too much to all of a sudden stop," Richard said.

And for a while in the 1980s, it seemed that the Stones had in fact broken up. Jagger was pursuing his solo career, barely speaking to Richard. The partners took turns sniping at each other through the press. As Jagger related in Rolling Stone, "Everyone was bored playing with each other. We'd reached a period when we were tired of it all. Bill [Wyman] was not enthusiastic to start with - there's a guy that doesn't really want to do much…. You've got Charlie overdoing it in all directions … Keith the same. Me the same … We just got fed up with each other. You've got a relationship with musicians that depends on what you produce together. But when you don't produce … You get difficult periods, and that was one of them."

Still the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band

But rumors of the band's breakup had to be put on hold in 1989, when the Stones announced plans for a new album and a world tour. A favorite with critics, Steel Wheels quickly sold over two million copies. The tour, however, which was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, was attacked by many for being blatantly over-commercialized. Despite the criticism, the Steel Wheels Tour - which reportedly raked in over $140 million - was a hit with music reviewers and fans. The 1990 Rolling Stone readers' and critics' polls selected the Stones as best band and artist of the year, and cited Steel Wheels as 1989's best tour.

The group's ability to overcome internal dissension and the toll of more than 25 years in rock and roll's fast lane to put together the industry's success story of the year surprised some observers, but not the Stones themselves. "The Stones, it's a weird thing, it's almost like a soap opera," Richard told Rolling Stone. "We needed a break to find out what you can and can't do on your own. I had to find myself a whole new band… . But then I realized maybe that's the way to keep the band together: leaving for a bit… . I never doubted the band, personally - but I'm an incredible optimist where this band is concerned. It never occurred to me that they might not be able to cut it. Absolutely not."

But Steel Wheels was to be Bill Wyman's last album and tour with the Stones - he announced his retirement in 1993. With Darryl Jones replacing Wyman, the Stones next released Voodoo Lounge, an album that in many ways was meant to recall the classic Stones sound of the early 1970s. The announcement for the subsequent tour was greeted with complaints from some critics that the Stones were simply too old, just going through the motions. But that album would go on to sell four million copies, and the supporting tour, which featured 22 songs from the band's 30-year history, went on to become the highest grossing tour of all time.

The years when a Rolling Stones breakup seemed a certainty have passed. As a change of pace from their usual mammoth concert tours, the Stones made a brief sweep of Europe, playing in far smaller venues, typically of less than 1,000 seats, such as the Paradiso in Amsterdam. For that tour, the Stones presented a more stripped down, more acoustic set, featuring songs like the Stones chestnut "The Spider and the Fly," "Shine a Light," from Exiles, and the Bob Dylan classic "Like a Rolling Stone. " From that tour, the group released the live album "Stripped."

The experience seemed to bring new life to the band, and more certainty to the band's future, although the band remains noncommittal. "I don't think Charlie's wildly enthusiastic, nor am I," Jagger told Rolling Stone, "But I dare say the Rolling Stones will do more shows together … I don't know exactly what framework [that] would take … But I'm sure there will be Rolling Stones music and there will be Rolling Stones songs."

Selected recordings on London Records include England's Newest Hit Makers - The Rolling Stones, 1964; 12x5, 1964; The Rolling Stones Now!, 1965; Out of Our Heads, 1965; December's Children, 1965; Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass), 1966; Got Live If You Want It!, 1966; Between the Buttons, 1967; Flowers, 1967; Their Satanic Majesties Request, 1967; Beggar's Banquet, 1968; Through the Past Darkly, 1969; Let It Bleed, 1969; Get Yer Ya Yas Out, 1970. On Rolling Stone Records, except as noted: Sticky Fingers, 1971; Hot Rocks: 1964-1971, London Records, 1972; Exile on Main Street, 1972; More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies), London Records; Goat's Head Soup, 1973; It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, 1974; Made in the Shade, 1975; Metamorphosis, ABKCO, 1975; Black and Blue, 1976; Love You Live, 1977; Some Girls, 1978; Emotional Rescue, 1980; Sucking in the Seventies, 1981. On Virgin Records: Tattoo You, 1981; Undercover, 1983; Dirty Work, 1986; Steel Wheels, 1989; Voodoo Lounge, 1993; Stripped, 1995; The Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus, ABKCO, 1996.

The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones (L-R): Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Rock, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, blues
Years active	1962–present
Label(s)	Decca, Rolling Stones, Virgin, ABKCO, Interscope, Polydor
Website	www.RollingStones.com
Members
Mick Jagger Keith Richards Charlie Watts Ronnie Wood
Former members
Brian Jones Ian Stewart Dick Taylor Mick Taylor Bill Wyman

History

Early history

In the early 1950s Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were classmates at Wentworth Primary School in Dartford, Kent.^[2] They met again in 1960 while Richards was attending Sidcup Art College.^[3] Richards recalled, "I was still going to school, and he was going up to the London School of Economics... So I get on this train one morning, and there's Jagger and under his arm he has four or five albums... He's got Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters".^[4] With mutual friend Dick Taylor (later of Pretty Things), they formed the band Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.^[3] Stones founders Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were active in the London R&B scene fostered by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner. Jagger and Richards met Jones while he was playing slide guitar sitting in with Korner's Blues Incorporated. Korner also had hired Jagger periodically and frequently future Stones drummer Charlie Watts.^[5] Their first rehearsal was organised by Jones and included Stewart, Jagger and Richards - the latter came along at Jagger's invitation. In June 1962 the lineup was: Jagger, Richards, Stewart, Jones, Taylor, and drummer Tony Chapman. Taylor then left the group. Jones named the band The Rollin' Stones to pay tribute to "Rollin' Stone" by Muddy Waters.^[6]^[7]

1962–1964

On 12 July 1962 the group played their first formal gig at the Marquee Club, billed as "The Rollin' Stones".^[8] The line-up was Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart on piano, Taylor on bass and Tony Chapman on drums. Jones intended for the band to play primarily Chicago blues, but Jagger and Richards brought the rock & roll of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley to the band.^[9] Bassist Bill Wyman joined in December and drummer Charlie Watts the following January to form the Stones' long-standing rhythm section.^[10]^[3]

The Rolling Stones' first manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, booked the band to play at his Crawdaddy Club^[3] for what became an eight-month residency. A young ex-publicist of The Beatles, Andrew Loog Oldham, signed the band to a management deal with his partner and veteran booker Eric Easton in early May 1963.^[11] (Gomelsky, who had no written agreement with the band, was not consulted.) George Harrison, meanwhile, encouraged Decca Records' Dick Rowe - who famously passed on the Beatles - to scout The Rolling Stones.^[12] The band toured the UK in July 1963 and played their first gig outside of Greater London on Saturday 13 July at the Outlook Club in Middlesbrough^[13] sharing billing that night with The Hollies.^[14]^[15]

The Rolling Stones in the 1960s. From left: Jagger, Jones, Richards, Wyman and Watts.

After signing The Rolling Stones to a tape-lease deal with Decca,^[12] Oldham and Easton booked the band on their first big UK tour in the autumn of 1963. They were billed as a supporting act for American stars including Bo Diddley, Little Richard and The Everly Brothers. The result was a "training ground" for the young band's stagecraft.^[16]^[17]^[18]

Prior to this tour, in July 1963, the band's first single, Chuck Berry's "Come On" reached number 21 in the UK. In November 1963, the Rolling Stones had a bigger hit with a rendition of the Lennon/McCartney composition "I Wanna Be Your Man", which went to number 12 on the UK charts.

Oldham crafted the band's image of long-haired tearaways "into the opposite of what The Beatles [were] doing".^[5] The band was touring the UK constantly, and made numerous television appearances; their next single, a frantic cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" was a top three hit.

Their first album The Rolling Stones, (issued in the US as England's Newest Hit Makers) was composed primarily of covers drawn from the band's live repertoire. The LP also included a Jagger/Richards original - "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)" - and two numbers credited to Nanker Phelge, the name used for songs composed by the entire group.

The Rolling Stones' first US tour in June 1964 was, in Bill Wyman's words, "a disaster. When we arrived, we didn't have a hit record [there] or anything going for us."^[19] When the band appeared on Dean Martin's TV variety show The Hollywood Palace, Martin mocked both their hair and their performance.^[20] During the tour, however, they did a two-day recording session at Chess Studios in Chicago, where many of their musical heroes recorded.^[21]^[22] These sessions included what would become The Rolling Stones' first UK chart-topper: their cover of Bobby and Shirley Womack's "It's All Over Now".^[23]

On their second US tour in the autumn of 1964, the band immediately followed James Brown in the filmed theatrical release of The TAMI Show, which showcased American acts with British Invasion artists. According to Jagger in 2003, "We weren't actually following James Brown because there were hours in between the filming of each section. Nevertheless, he was still very annoyed about it..."^[24] On 25 October the band also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan, reacting to the pandemonium the Stones caused, promised to never book them again,^[25] though he later did book them repeatedly.^[5] Their second LP - the US-only 12 X 5 - was released during this tour;^[26] it again contained mainly cover tunes, augmented by Jagger/Richards and Nanker Phelge tracks.

The Rolling Stones' fifth UK single - a cover of Willie Dixon's "Little Red Rooster" backed by "Off the Hook" (Nanker Phelge) - was released in November 1964 and became their second number-1 hit in the UK - an unprecedented achievement for a blues number. The band's US distributors (London Records) declined to release "Little Red Rooster" as a single there. In December 1964 London Records released the band's first single with Jagger/Richards originals on both sides: "Heart of Stone" backed with "What a Shame"; "Heart of Stone" went to number 19 in the US.^[27]

1965–1969

The band's second UK LP - The Rolling Stones No. 2, released in January 1965 - was another #1 on the album charts; the US version, released in February as The Rolling Stones, Now!, went to #5. Most of the material had been recorded at Chess Studios in Chicago and RCA Studios in Los Angeles.^[28] In January/February 1965 the band also toured Australia and New Zealand for the first time, playing 34 shows for about 100,000 fans.^[29]

The first Jagger/Richards composition to reach number 1 on the UK singles charts was "The Last Time" (released in February 1965); it went to number 9 in the US. Their first international number-1 hit was "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", recorded in May 1965 during the band's third North American tour. Released as a US single in June 1965, it spent four weeks at the top of the charts there, and established the Stones as a worldwide premier act.^[30] The US version of the LP Out of Our Heads (released in July 1965) also went to number 1; it included seven original songs (three Jagger/Richards numbers and four credited to Nanker Phelge).^[31] Their second international number-1 single, "Get Off of My Cloud" was released in the autumn of 1965,^[5] followed by another US-only LP: December's Children.^[26]

The release Aftermath (UK number 1; US 2) in the late spring of 1966 was the first Rolling Stones album to be composed entirely of Jagger/Richards songs. Jones's contribution was also at its all time height, with his command of exotic instruments greatly adding to the band's sound. The American version of the LP included the chart-topping, Middle Eastern-influenced "Paint It Black", the ballad "Lady Jane", and the almost 12-minute long "Going Home", the first extended jam on a top selling rock & roll album; later Jimi Hendrix, Cream and other sixties and seventies bands would release long jams routinely.

The Stones' success on the British and American singles charts peaked during 1966. "19th Nervous Breakdown" (Feb. 1966, UK #2, US #2) was followed by their first trans-Atlantic #1 hit "Paint It Black" (May 1966). "Mother's Little Helper" (June 1966) was only released as a single in the USA, where it reached #8; it was one of the first pop songs to address the issue of prescription drug abuse, and is also notable for the fact that Jagger sang the lyric in his natural London accent, rather than his usual affected southern American accent.

The September 1966 single "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?" (UK #5, US #9) was notable in several respects -- it was the first Stones recording to feature brass in the arrangement, the (now-famous) back-cover photo on the original US picture sleeve depicted the group satirically dressed in drag, and the song was accompanied by one of the first purpose-made promotional film clips (music videos), directed by Peter Whitehead.

"Paint It Black"

Sample of "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones (1966). Released as a single and as the opening track on the US version of Aftermath.

Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

Sample of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones (1965).

Problems listening to this file? See media help.

January 1967 saw the release of Between the Buttons (UK number 3; US 2); the album was Andrew Oldham's last venture as The Rolling Stones' producer (his role as the band's manager had been taken over by Allen Klein in 1965). The US version included the double A-side single "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday", which went to #1 in America and #3 in the UK. When the band went to New York to perform the numbers on The Ed Sullivan Show, they were ordered to change the lyrics of the refrain to "let's spend some time together".^[3]^[32]

Jagger, Richards and Jones began to be hounded by authorities over their recreational drug use. In early 1967 when News of the World ran a three-part feature entitled "Pop Stars and Drugs: Facts That Will Shock You". The series alleged LSD parties hosted by The Moody Blues and attended by top stars including The Who's Pete Townshend and Cream's Ginger Baker, and alleged admissions of drug use by leading pop musicians. The first article targeted Donovan (who was raided and charged soon after); the second installment (published on 5 February) targeted the Rolling Stones. A reporter who contributed to the story spent an evening at the exclusive London club Blaise's, where a member of the Stones allegedly took several Benzedrine tablets, displayed a piece of hashish and invited his companions back to his flat for a "smoke". The article claimed that this was Mick Jagger, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity -- the reporter had in fact been eavesdropping on Brian Jones. On the night the article was published Jagger appeared on the Eammon Andrews chat show and announced that he was filing a writ of libel against the paper.^[33]

A week later on Sunday 12 February Sussex police (tipped off by the News of the World) raided a party at Keith Richards's home, Redlands. No arrests were made at the time but Jagger, Richards and their friend Robert Fraser (an art dealer) were subsequently charged with drug offences. Richards said in 2003, "When we got busted at Redlands, it suddenly made us realise that this was a whole different ball game and that was when the fun stopped. Up until then it had been as though London existed in a beautiful space where you could do anything you wanted."^[34]

In March, while awaiting the consequences of the police raid, Jagger, Richards and Jones took a short trip to Morocco, accompanied by Marianne Faithfull, Jones's girlfriend Anita Pallenberg and other friends. During this trip the stormy relations between Jones and Pallenberg deteriorated to the point that Pallenberg left Morocco with Richards.^[35] Richards said later: "That was the final nail in the coffin with me and Brian. He'd never forgive me for that and I don't blame him, but hell, shit happens."^[36] Richards and Pallenberg would remain a couple for twelve years. Despite these complications, The Rolling Stones toured Europe in March and April 1967. The tour included the band's first performances in Poland, Greece and Italy.^[37]

On 10 May 1967 -- the same day Jagger, Richards and Fraser were arraigned in connection with the Redlands charges -- Brian Jones's house was raided by police and he was arrested and charged with possession of cannabis.^[3] With three out of five Rolling Stones now facing criminal charges, Jagger and Richards were tried at the end of June. On 29 June Jagger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for possession of four amphetamine tablets; Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to one year in prison.^[38] Both Jagger and Richards were imprisoned at that point, but were released on bail the next day pending appeal.^[39] The Times ran the famous editorial entitled "Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?" in which editor William Rees-Mogg was strongly critical of the sentencing, pointing out that Jagger had been treated far more harshly for a minor first offence than "any purely anonymous young man".

While awaiting the appeal hearings, the band recorded a new single, "We Love You", as a thank-you for the loyalty shown by their fans. It began with the sound of prison doors closing, and the accompanying music video included allusions to the trial of Oscar Wilde.^[40] On 31 July, the appeals court overturned Richards's conviction, and Jagger's sentence was reduced to a conditional discharge.^[41] Brian Jones's trial took place in November 1967; in December, after appealing the original prison sentence, Jones was fined £1000, put on three years' probation and ordered to seek professional help.^[42]

December 1967 also saw the release of Their Satanic Majesties Request (UK number 3; US 2), released shortly after The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.^[3] Satanic Majesties had been recorded in difficult circumstances while Jagger, Richards and Jones were dealing with their court cases. The band parted ways with producer Andrew Oldham during the sessions. The split was amicable, at least publicly;^[43] but in 2003 Jagger said: "The reason Andrew left was because he thought that we weren't concentrating and that we were being childish. It was not a great moment really - and I would have thought it wasn't a great moment for Andrew either. There were a lot of distractions and you always need someone to focus you at that point, that was Andrew's job."^[3]

Satanic Majesties thus became the first album The Rolling Stones produced on their own. It was also the first of their albums released in identical versions on both sides of the Atlantic. Its psychedelic sound was complemented by the cover art, which featured a 3D photo by Michael Cooper, who had also photographed the cover of Sgt. Pepper. Bill Wyman wrote and sang a track on the album: "In Another Land", which was also released as the first The Rolling Stones single featuring lead vocals other than Jagger's.^[44]

The band spent the first few months of 1968 working on material for their next album. Those sessions resulted in the song "Jumpin' Jack Flash", released as a single in May. The song, and later that year the resulting album, Beggars Banquet (UK number 3; US 5), marked the band's return to their blues roots, and the beginning of their collaboration with producer Jimmy Miller. Featuring the album's lead single, "Street Fighting Man" (which addressed the political upheavals of May 1968), and the opening track "Sympathy for the Devil", Beggars Banquet was another eclectic mix of country and blues-inspired tunes, and was hailed as an achievement for the Stones at the time of release. On the musical evolution between albums, Richards said, "There is a change between material on Satanic Majesties and Beggars Banquet. I'd grown sick to death of the whole Maharishi guru shit and the beads and bells. Who knows where these things come from, but I guess [the music] was a reaction to what we'd done in our time off and also that severe dose of reality. A spell in prison... will certainly give you room for thought... I was fucking pissed with being busted. So it was, 'Right we'll go and strip this thing down.' There's a lot of anger in the music from that period."^[45] Tutored by American guitarist Ry Cooder, Richards during this time (1968) started using open tunings (often in conjunction with a capo), most prominently an open-E or open-D tuning, then in 1969, 5-string open-G tuning (with the lower 6th string removed), as heard on the 1969 single "Honky Tonk Women", "Brown Sugar" (Sticky Fingers, 1971), "Tumbling Dice"(capo IV), "Happy"(capo IV) (Exile on Main St., 1972), and "Start Me Up" (Tattoo You, 1981). Open tunings became part of the Rolling Stones' (and Richards's) trademark guitar sound.

The end of 1968 saw the filming of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. It featured John Lennon, Yoko Ono, The Dirty Mac, The Who, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull and Taj Mahal. The footage was shelved for twenty-eight years (the Rolling Stones were reportedly dissatisfied with their own performance) but was finally released officially in 1996.

By the release of Beggars Banquet, Brian Jones was troubled and contributed sporadically to the band. Jagger said that Jones was "not psychologically suited to this way of life".^[46] His drug use had become a hindrance, and he was unable to obtain a US visa. Richards reported that, in a June meeting with Jagger, Richards, and Watts at Jones's house, Jones admitted that he was unable to "go on the road again". According to Richards, all agreed to let Jones "...say I've left, and if I want to I can come back".^[4] His replacement was the 20-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor, of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, who started recording with the band immediately. On 3 July 1969, less than a month later, Jones drowned in the swimming pool at his Cotchford Farm home in Sussex.

1969–1974

The Rolling Stones were scheduled to play at a free concert in London's Hyde Park two days after Brian Jones's death; they decided to proceed with the show as a tribute to Jones. Their first concert with Mick Taylor was performed in front of an estimated 250,000 fans.^[3] The performance was filmed by a Granada Television production team, to be shown on British television as Stones in the Park. Jagger read an excerpt from Percy Bysshe Shelley's elegy Adonais and released thousands of butterflies in memory of Jones.^[3] The show included the concert debut of "Honky Tonk Women", which the band had just released. Their stage manager Sam Cutler introduced them as "the greatest rock & roll band in the world"^[47] - a description he repeated throughout their 1969 US tour, and which has stuck to this day.

"Gimmie Shelter"

Sample of "Gimmie Shelter" by The Rolling Stones, from Let It Bleed (1969)

Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"Brown Sugar"

Sample of "Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones, from Sticky Fingers (1971)

Problems listening to this file? See media help.

The release of Let It Bleed (UK number 1; US 3) came in December. Their last album of the sixties, Let It Bleed featured "Gimmie Shelter" (with backing vocals by female vocalist Merry Clayton), "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Midnight Rambler", as well as a cover of Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain". Jones and Taylor are featured on two tracks each. Many of these numbers were played during the band's US tour in November 1969, their first in three years. Just after the tour the band also staged the Altamont Free Concert, at the Altamont Speedway, about 60 km east of San Francisco. The biker gang Hells Angels provided security, which resulted in a fan, Meredith Hunter, being stabbed and beaten to death by the Angels.^[48] Part of the tour and the Altamont concert were documented in Albert and David Maysles' film Gimme Shelter. As a response to the growing popularity of bootleg recordings, the album Get Yer Ya-Yas Out! (UK 1; US 6) was released in 1970; it was declared by critic Lester Bangs to be the best live album ever.^[49]

In 1970 the band's contracts with both Allen Klein and Decca Records ended, and amid contractual disputes with Klein, they formed their own record company, Rolling Stones Records. Sticky Fingers (UK number 1; US 1), released in March 1971, the band's first album on their own label, featured an elaborate cover design by Andy Warhol. The album contains one of their best known hits, "Brown Sugar", and the country-influenced "Wild Horses". Both were recorded at Alabama's Muscle Shoals Sound Studio during the 1969 American tour. The album continued the band's immersion into heavily blues-influenced compositions. The album is noted for its "loose, ramshackle ambience"^[50] and marked Mick Taylor's first full release with the band.

Following the release of Sticky Fingers, The Rolling Stones left England on the advice of financial advisors. The band moved to the South of France where Richards rented the Villa Nellcôte, and sublet rooms to band members and entourage. Using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, they held recording sessions in the basement; they completed the resulting tracks, along with material dating as far back as 1969, at Sunset Studios in Los Angeles. The resulting double album, Exile on Main St. (UK number 1; US 1), was released in May 1972. Given an A+ grade by critic Robert Christgau^[51] and disparaged by Lester Bangs -- who reversed his opinion within months -- Exile is now accepted as one of the Stones' best albums.^[52] The films Cocksucker Blues (never officially released) and Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (released in 1974) document the subsequent highly publicised 1972 North American ("STP") Tour, with its retinue of jet set hangers-on, including writer Terry Southern.

In November 1972, the band began sessions in Kingston, Jamaica, for their follow-up to Exile, Goats Head Soup (UK 1; US 1) (1973). The album spawned the worldwide hit "Angie", but proved the first in a string of commercially successful but tepidly received studio albums.^[53] The sessions for Goats Head Soup led to a number of outtakes, most notably an early version of the popular ballad "Waiting on a Friend", not released until Tattoo You eight years later.

The making of the record was interrupted by another legal battle over drugs, dating back to their stay in France; a warrant for Richards's arrest had been issued, and the other band members had to return briefly to France for questioning.^[54] This, along with Jagger's convictions on drug charges (in 1967 and 1970^[55]), also complicated the band's plans for their Pacific tour in early 1973: they were denied permission to play in Japan and almost banned from Australia. This was followed by a European tour (bypassing France) in September/October 1973 - prior to which Richards had been arrested once more on drug charges, this time in England.^[56]

The band went to Musicland studios in Munich to record their next album, 1974's It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (UK 2; US 1), but Jimmy Miller, who had drug abuse issues, was no longer producer. Instead, Jagger and Richards assumed production duties and were credited as "the Glimmer Twins". Both the album and the single of the same name were hits.

Nearing the end of 1974, Taylor began to get impatient.^[57] The band's situation made normal functioning complicated, with band members living in different countries and legal barriers restricting where they could tour. At the same time, Richards's drug use was affecting his creativity and productivity, while Taylor felt some of his own creative contributions were going unrecognized.^[58] At the end of 1974, with a recording session already booked in Munich to record another album, Taylor quit The Rolling Stones.^[59] Taylor said in 1980, "I was getting a bit fed up. I wanted to broaden my scope as a guitarist and do something else... I wasn't really composing songs or writing at that time. I was just beginning to write, and that influenced my decision... There are some people who can just ride along from crest to crest; they can ride along somebody else's success. And there are some people for whom that's not enough. It really wasn't enough for me."^[60]

1974–1982

Ronnie Wood (left) and Mick Jagger (right), during the 1975 Tour of the Americas

The Stones used the recording sessions in Munich to audition replacements for Taylor. Guitarists as stylistically far-flung as Humble Pie lead Peter Frampton and ex-Yardbirds virtuoso Jeff Beck were auditioned. Rory Gallagher and Shuggie Otis also dropped by the Munich sessions. American session players Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel also appeared on much of the next album. Yet Richards and Jagger also wanted the Stones to remain purely a British band. When Ron Wood walked in and jammed with the band, Richards and everyone else knew he was the one. Wood had already recorded and played live with Richards, and had contributed to the recording and writing of the track "It's Only Rock 'n Roll". The album, Black and Blue (UK 2; US 1) (1976), featured all their contributions. Though he had earlier declined Jagger's offer to join the Stones, because of his ties to the The Faces, Wood committed to the Stones in 1975 for their upcoming Tour of the Americas. He joined officially the following year, as the Faces dissolved; however, Wood remained on salary until Wyman's departure nearly two decades later, when he finally became a full member of the Rolling Stones' partnership.

The 1975 Tour of the Americas kicked off with the band performing on a flatbed trailer being pulled down Broadway in New York City. The tour featured stage props including a giant phallus and a rope on which Jagger swung out over the audience.

Toronto's El Mocambo Club where part of Love You Live was recorded.

Jagger had booked a live recording session at the El Mocambo club in Toronto to balance a long-overdue live album, 1977's Love You Live (UK 3; US 5), the first Stones live album since 1970's Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!. Richards's addiction to heroin delayed his arrival in Toronto; the other members had already assembled, awaiting Richards, and sent him a telegram asking him where he was. On 24 February 1977, Richards and his family flew in from London on a direct BOAC flight and were detained by Canada Customs after Richards was found in possession of a burnt spoon and hash residue. On 4 March, Richards's partner Anita Pallenberg pleaded guilty to drug possession and was fined for the original airport event.^[61] On Sunday, 27 February, after two days of Stones rehearsals, armed with an arrest warrant for Pallenberg, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovered "22 grams of heroin"^[62] in Richards's room. Richards was charged with importing narcotics into Canada, which carried a minimum seven-year sentence upon conviction.^[63] Later the Crown prosecutor conceded that Richards had procured the drugs after arrival.^[64] Despite the arrest, the band played two shows in Toronto, only to raise more controversy when Margaret Trudeau, then-wife of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was seen partying with the band after the show. These two shows were kept secret from the public and the El Mocambo had been booked for the entire week by April Wine for a recording session. 1050 CHUM, a local radio station, ran a contest for free tickets to see April Wine and the winners were allowed to pick a night to see the band. The winners that picked tickets for the Friday or Saturday night were surprised to find that the Stones were playing.^[61]

The drug case dragged on for over a year until Richards received a suspended sentence and was ordered to play two free concerts for the CNIB in Oshawa;^[64] both shows were played by the Rolling Stones and The New Barbarians, a group that Wood had put together to promote his latest solo album, and which Richards also joined. This episode motivated Richards's resolve to get off heroin.^[3] It also coincided with the end of his relationship with Pallenberg, which had become strained since the death of their third child (an infant son named Tara) and her inability to curb her heroin addiction while Keith struggled to get clean.^[65] While Richards was settling his legal and personal problems, Jagger continued his jet-set lifestyle. He was a regular at New York's Studio 54 disco club, often in the company of model Jerry Hall. His marriage to Bianca Jagger ended in 1979.

Although The Rolling Stones remained popular through the first half of the 1970s, music critics had grown increasingly dismissive of the band's output, and record sales failed to meet expectations.^[5] By the late 70s, punk rock had become influential, and the Stones were criticised as decadent, aging millionaires,^[3] and their music considered by many to be stagnant or irrelevant.^[66] This changed in 1978, when the band released Some Girls (UK #2; US #1), which included the hit single "Miss You", the country ballad "Far Away Eyes", "Beast of Burden", and "Shattered". In part a response to punk, many songs were fast, basic, guitar-driven rock and roll,^[66] and the album's success re-established the Rolling Stones' immense popularity among young people. Following the US Tour 1978, the band guested on the first show of the fourth season of the TV series "Saturday Night Live". The group did not tour Europe the following year, breaking the routine of touring Europe every three years that the band had followed since 1967.

Following the success of Some Girls, the band released their next album Emotional Rescue (UK 1; US 1) in mid-1980. The recording of the album was reportedly plagued by turmoil, with Jagger and Richards' relationship reaching a new low. Richards, though still using heroin according to keyboardist Ian Mclagan^[4] began to assert more control in the studio — more than Jagger had become used to — and a struggle ensued as Richards felt he was fighting for "his half of the Glimmer Twins."^{[citation needed]} Though Emotional Rescue hit the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and the title track reached #3 in the U.S., it was panned by critics as lackluster and inconsistent.^{[citation needed]}

In early 1981, the group reconvened and decided to tour the US that year, leaving little time to write and record a new album, as well as rehearse for the tour. That year's resulting album, Tattoo You (UK 2; US 1) featured a number of outtakes, including lead single "Start Me Up", which reached #2 in the U.S. and ranked #22 on Billboard's Hot 100 year-end chart. Two songs ("Waiting on a Friend" (U.S. #13) and "Tops") featured Mick Taylor's guitar playing, while jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins played on "Slave" and dubbed a part on "Waiting on a Friend". The Rolling Stones scored one more Top Twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, the #20 hit "Hang Fire". The Stones' American Tour 1981 was their biggest, longest and most colourful production to date, with the band playing from 25 September through 19 December. It was the highest grossing tour of that year. Some shows were recorded, resulting in the 1982 live album Still Life (American Concert 1981) (UK 4; US 5), and the 1983 Hal Ashby concert film Let's Spend the Night Together, which was filmed at Sun Devil Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona and the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands, New Jersey.

In mid-1982, to commemorate their 20th anniversary, the Stones took their American stage show to Europe. The European Tour 1982 was their first European tour in six years. The tour was essentially a carbon copy of the 1981 American tour. For the tour, the band were joined by former Allman Brothers Band piano player Chuck Leavell, who continues to play and record with the Stones. By the end of the year, the band had signed a new four-album, 28 million dollar recording deal with a new label, CBS Records.

1983–1991

Before leaving Atlantic, the Stones released Undercover (UK 3; US 4) in late 1983. Despite good reviews and the Top Ten peak position of the title track, the record sold below expectations and there was no tour to support it. Subsequently the Stones' new marketer/distributor CBS Records took over distributing the Stone's Atlantic catalogue.

By this time, the Jagger/Richards split was growing. Much to the consternation of Richards, Jagger had signed a solo deal with CBS Records, and he spent much of 1984 writing songs for this first solo effort. He has also stated that he was feeling stultified within the framework of the Rolling Stones.^{[citation needed]} By 1985, Jagger was spending more time on solo recordings, and much of the material on 1986's Dirty Work (UK #4; US #4) was generated by Keith Richards, with more contributions by Ron Wood than on previous Rolling Stones albums. Rumours surfaced that Jagger and Richards were rarely, if ever, in the studio at the same time, leaving Richards to keep the recording sessions moving forward.^{[citation needed]}

In December 1985, the band's co-founder, pianist, road manager and long-time friend Ian Stewart died of a heart attack. The Rolling Stones played a private tribute concert for him at London's 100 Club in February 1986, two days before they were presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.^[67]

Dirty Work came out in March 1986 to mixed reviews despite the presence of the U.S. Top Five hit "Harlem Shuffle"; Jagger refused to tour to promote the album, stating later that several band members were in no condition to tour.^{[citation needed]} Richards was infuriated when Jagger instead undertook his own solo tour; he has referred to this period in his relations with Jagger as "World War III".^[68] Jagger's solo records, She's The Boss (UK 6; US 13) (1985) and Primitive Cool (UK 26; US 41) (1987), met with moderate success, although Richards disparaged both.^{[citation needed]} In 1988, with the Rolling Stones inactive, Richards released his first solo album, Talk Is Cheap (UK 37; US 24). It was well received by fans and critics, going gold in the US.

In early 1989, the Rolling Stones, including Mick Taylor, Ronnie Wood and Ian Stewart (posthumously), were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jagger and Richards appeared to have set animosities aside, and The Rolling Stones went to work on the album that would be called Steel Wheels (UK 2; US 3). Heralded as a return to form, it included the singles "Mixed Emotions" (US #5), "Rock and a Hard Place" (US #23) and "Almost Hear You Sigh". It also included "Continental Drift", which was recorded in Tangier in 1989 with Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka, whom Brian Jones had recorded in 1968.^[67]

The subsequent Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tours, encompassing North America, Japan and Europe, saw the Rolling Stones touring for the first time in seven years (since Europe 1982), and it was their biggest stage production to date. Opening acts included Living Colour and Guns N' Roses; the onstage personnel included a horn section and backup singers Lisa Fischer and Bernard Fowler, both of whom continue to tour regularly with the Rolling Stones. Recordings from the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tours produced the 1991 concert album Flashpoint (UK 6; US 16), which also included two studio tracks recorded in 1991: the single "Highwire" and "Sex Drive".

These were the last Rolling Stones tours for Bill Wyman, who left the band after years of deliberation, although his retirement was not made official until 1993. He then published Stone Alone, an autobiography, based on memoirs he had been writing since the band's early days in London. A few years later, he formed Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings and began recording and touring again.

1992–2004

After the successes of the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tours, the band took a break. Charlie Watts released two jazz albums; Ronnie Wood made his fifth solo album, the first in 11 years, called Slide On This; Keith Richards released his second solo album in late 1992, Main Offender (UK 45; US 99), and did a small tour including big concerts in Spain and Argentina. Mick Jagger got good reviews and sales with his third solo album, Wandering Spirit (UK 12; US 11). The album sold more than two million copies worldwide, going gold in the US.

After Wyman's departure, the Rolling Stones' new distributor/record label, Virgin Records, remastered and repackaged the band's back catalogue from Sticky Fingers to Steel Wheels, except for the three live albums, and issued another hits compilation in 1993 entitled Jump Back (UK 16; US 30). By 1993 the Stones set upon their next studio album. Darryl Jones, former sideman of Miles Davis and Sting, was chosen by Charlie Watts as Wyman's replacement for 1994's Voodoo Lounge (UK 1; US 2). The album met strong reviews and sales, going double platinum in the US. Reviewers took note of the album's "traditionalist" sounds, which were credited to the Rolling Stones' new producer Don Was.^[69] It would go on to win the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.

1994 also brought the accompanying Voodoo Lounge Tour, which lasted into 1995. Numbers from various concerts and rehearsals (mostly acoustic) made up Stripped (UK 9; US 9), which featured a cover of Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone", as well as infrequently played songs like "Shine a Light", "Sweet Virginia" and "The Spider and the Fly".

The Rolling Stones ended the 1990s with the album Bridges To Babylon (UK 6; US 3), released in 1997 to mixed reviews. The video of the single "Anybody Seen My Baby?" featured Angelina Jolie as guest and met steady rotation on both MTV and VH1. Sales were reasonably equivalent to those of previous records (about 1.2 million copies sold in the US), and the subsequent Bridges to Babylon Tour, which crossed Europe, North America and other destinations, proved the band to be a strong live attraction. Once again, a live album was culled from the tour, No Security (UK 67; US 34), only this time all but two songs ("Live With Me" and "The Last Time") were previously unreleased on live albums. In 1999, the Stones staged the No Security Tour in the US and continued the Bridges to Babylon tour in Europe. The No Security Tour offered a stripped-down production in contrast to the pyrotechnics and mammoth stages of other recent tours.

In late 2001, Mick Jagger released his fourth solo album, Goddess in the Doorway (UK 44; US 39) which met with mixed reviews.^[70] Jagger and Richards took part in "The Concert for New York City", performing "Salt of the Earth" and "Miss You" with a backing band.

In 2002, the band released Forty Licks (UK 2; US 2), a greatest hits double album, to mark their forty years as a band. The collection contained four new songs recorded with the latter-day core band of Jagger, Richards, Watts, Wood, Leavell and Jones. The album has sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. The same year, Q magazine named The Rolling Stones as one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die",^[71] and the 2002-2003 Licks Tour gave people that chance. The band's 2002-2003 Licks Tour included shows in small theatres, arenas and stadiums. The band headlined the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to help the city — which they have used for rehearsals since the Steel Wheels tour — recover from the 2003 SARS epidemic. The concert was attended by an estimated 490,000 people.

Keith Richards in Hannover, 2006, during the A Bigger Bang Tour

On 9 November 2003, the band played their first concert in Hong Kong as part of the Harbour Fest celebration, also in support of the SARS-affected economy. In November 2003, the band exclusively licensed the right to sell their new four-DVD boxed set, Four Flicks, recorded on the band's most recent world tour, to the US Best Buy chain of stores. In response, some Canadian and US music retail chains (including HMV Canada and Circuit City) pulled Rolling Stones CDs and related merchandise from their shelves and replaced them with signs explaining the situation.^[72] In 2004, a double live album of the Licks Tour, Live Licks (UK 38; US 50), was released, going gold in the US.

2005-present

On 26 July 2005, Jagger's birthday, the band announced the name of their new album, A Bigger Bang (UK 2; US 3), their first album in almost eight years. A Bigger Bang was released on 6 September to strong reviews, including a glowing write-up in Rolling Stone magazine.^[73] The single "Streets of Love" reached the Top 15 in UK and Europe.

The album included the most controversial song from the Stones in years, "Sweet Neo Con", a criticism of American Neoconservatism from Jagger.^[74] The song was reportedly almost dropped from the album because of objections from Richards. When asked if he was afraid of political backlash such as the Dixie Chicks had endured for criticism of American involvement in the war in Iraq, Richards responded that the album came first, and that, "I don't want to be sidetracked by some little political 'storm in a teacup'."^[75]

The subsequent A Bigger Bang Tour began in August 2005, and visited North America, South America and East Asia. In February 2006, the group played the half-time show of Super Bowl XL in Detroit, Michigan. By the end of 2005, the Bigger Bang tour set a record of $162 million in gross receipts, breaking the North American mark also set by the Stones in 1994. On February 18, 2006 the band played a free concert with a claimed 1.5 million attendance at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.

After performances in Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand in March/April 2006, the Rolling Stones tour took a scheduled break before proceeding to Europe; during this break Keith Richards was hospitalized in New Zealand for cranial surgery after a fall from a tree on Fiji, where he had been on holiday. The incident led to a six-week delay in launching the European leg of the tour.^[76]^[77] In June 2006 it was reported that Ronnie Wood was continuing his programme of rehabilitation for alcohol abuse,^[78]^[79] but this did not affect the rearranged European tour schedule. Two out of the 21 shows scheduled for July-September 2006 were later cancelled due to Mick Jagger's throat problems.^[80]

The Stones returned to North America for concerts in September 2006, and returned to Europe on 5 June 2007. By November 2006, the Bigger Bang tour had been declared the highest-grossing tour of all time, earning $437 million. The North American leg brought in the third-highest receipts ever ($138.5 million), trailing their own 2005 tour ($162 million) and the U2 tour of that same year ($138.9 million).^[81]

On 29 October and 1 November 2006, director Martin Scorsese filmed the Rolling Stones performing at New York City's Beacon Theatre, in front of an audience that included Bill and Hillary Clinton, released as the 2008 film Shine a Light; the film also features guest appearances by Buddy Guy, Jack White and Christina Aguilera.^[82] An accompanying soundtrack, also titled Shine a Light (UK 2; US 11), was released in April 2008. The album's debut at number 2 in the UK charts was the highest position for a Rolling Stones concert album since Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! in 1970.

On 24 March 2007, the band announced a tour of Europe called the "Bigger Bang 2007" tour. 12 June 2007 saw the release of the band's second four-disc DVD set: The Biggest Bang, a seven-hour document featuring their shows in Austin, Rio de Janeiro, Saitama, Shanghai and Buenos Aires, along with extras. On 10 June 2007, the band performed their first gig at a festival in 30 years, at the Isle of Wight Festival, to a crowd of 65,000. On 26 August 2007, they played their last concert of the A Bigger Bang Tour at the O2 Arena in London, England. On 26 September 2007, it was announced The Rolling Stones had made $437 million on the A Bigger Bang Tour to list them in the latest edition of Guinness World Record.^[83]

Charlie Watts in Hannover, 2006

Mick Jagger released a compilation of his solo work called The Very Best Of Mick Jagger (UK 57; US 77), including three unreleased songs, on 2 October 2007. On 12 November 2007, the double compilation Rolled Gold+: The Very Best of the Rolling Stones (UK 26) was re-released for the Christmas season. As with the case of ABKCO Records and their history of unofficial releases, the actual band had nothing to do with the re-release of the compilation.

In March 2008 Keith Richards sparked rumours that a new Rolling Stones studio album may be forthcoming, saying during an interview following the premiere of Shine a Light, "I think we might make another album. Once we get over doing promotion on this film."^[84] In July 2008 it was announced that the Rolling Stones were leaving EMI and signing with Vivendi's Universal Music, taking with them their catalogue stretching back to Sticky Fingers. New music released by the band while under this contract will be issued through Universal's Polydor label.^[85] Universal Records will hold the US rights to the pre-1994 material, while the post-1994 material will be handled by Interscope Records (once a subsidiary of Atlantic). Coincidentally, Universal Music is also the distributor for ABKCO, owners of the band's pre-Sticky Fingers releases.

Musical evolution

The Rolling Stones are notable in modern popular music for assimilating various musical genres into their recording and performance, ultimately making the styles their very own. The band's career is marked by a continual reference and reliance on musical styles like American blues, country, folk, reggae, dance; world music exemplified by the Master Musicians of Jajouka; as well as traditional English styles that use stringed instrumentation like harps. The band cut their musical teeth by covering early rock and roll and blues songs, and have never stopped playing live or recording cover songs.

Infusion of American blues

Jagger and Richards shared an admiration of Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters and Little Walter, and their interest influenced Brian Jones, of whom Richards says, "He was more into T-Bone Walker and jazz-blues stuff. We'd turn him onto Chuck Berry and say, 'Look, it's all the same shit, man, and you can do it.'"^[4] Charlie Watts, a traditional jazz drummer, was also turned onto the blues after his introduction to the Stones. "Keith and Brian turned me on to Jimmy Reed and people like that. I learned that Earl Phillips was playing on those records like a jazz drummer, playing swing, with a straight four..."^[86]

Jagger, recalling when he first heard the likes of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Fats Domino and other heavies of the American blues scene, said it "seemed the most real thing"^[87] he had heard up to that point. Similarly, Keith Richards, describing the first time he listened to Muddy Waters, said it was the "most powerful music [he had] ever heard...the most expressive."^[88]

Early songwriting

Despite the Rolling Stones' predilection for blues and R&B numbers on their early live setlists, the first original compositions by the band reflected a more wide-ranging interest. The first Jagger/Richards single, "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)," is called by critic Richie Unterberger a "pop/rock ballad... When [Jagger and Richards] began to write songs, they were usually not derived from the blues, but were often surprisingly fey, slow, Mersey-type pop numbers."^[89] "As Tears Go By," the ballad originally written for Marianne Faithfull, was one of the first songs written by Jagger and Richards and also one of many written by the duo for other artists. Jagger said of the song, "It's a relatively mature song considering the rest of the output at the time. And we didn't think of [recording] it, because the Rolling Stones were a butch blues group."^[90] The Stones did later record a version which became a top five hit in the US.^[91]

On the early experience, Richards said, "The amazing thing is that although Mick and I thought these songs were really puerile and kindergarten-time, every one that got put out made a decent showing in the charts. That gave us extraordinary confidence to carry on, because at the beginning songwriting was something we were going to do in order to say to Andrew [Loog Oldham], 'Well, at least we gave it a try...'"^[92] Jagger said, "We were very pop-orientated. We didn't sit around listening to Muddy Waters; we listened to everything. In some ways it's easy to write to order... Keith and I got into the groove of writing those kind of tunes; they were done in ten minutes. I think we thought it was a bit of a laugh, and it turned out to be something of an apprenticeship for us."^[92]

The writing of the single "The Last Time," The Rolling Stones' first major single, proved a turning point. Richards called it "a bridge into thinking about writing for The Stones. It gave us a level of confidence; a pathway of how to do it."^[93] Built around a riff played by Brian Jones, the song was based on a traditional gospel song popularised by The Staples Singers and would be emblematic of the heavily guitar based sound to come.

Band members

Line-ups

1962	Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion Brian Jones – guitars, backing vocals, harmonica, percussion Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals Ian Stewart – piano, percussion with Mick Avory – drums Tony Chapman – drums Ricky Fenson – bass Carlo Little – drums Dick Taylor – bass Bill Wyman – bass
January–April 1963	Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion Brian Jones – guitars, backing vocals, harmonica, percussion Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals Ian Stewart – piano, percussion Charlie Watts – drums Bill Wyman – bass, backing vocals
May 1963 – May 1969	Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion Brian Jones – guitars, backing vocals, harmonica, percussion, tamboura, sitar, dulcimer, keyboards, autoharp, brass, woodwinds, theremin, kazoo Keith Richards – guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards, percussion Charlie Watts – drums, percussion Bill Wyman – bass, vocals, percussion, keyboards
May 1969 – December 1974	Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, keyboards, percussion, guitar Keith Richards – guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards Mick Taylor – guitars, bass, synthesizer, percussion, backing vocals Charlie Watts – drums, percussion Bill Wyman – bass, synthesizer
May 1975 – 1993	Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, keyboards, guitar Keith Richards – guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards, percussion Charlie Watts – drums, percussion Ronnie Wood – guitars, backing vocals, bass, drums, percussion Bill Wyman – bass, synthesizer
1993 – present	Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion, guitar, bass, keyboards Keith Richards – guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards Charlie Watts – drums, percussion Ronnie Wood – guitars, backing vocals, bass with Darryl Jones – bass

Discography

Further information: The Rolling Stones discography

Concert tours

Further information: Rolling Stones concerts

Official videography

Officially released films featuring the Rolling Stones are listed with their original release dates. (The formats mentioned are the most recent versions officially available, not necessarily the original release formats.)

1968: One Plus One (also titled Sympathy for the Devil), directed by Jean-Luc Godard (DVD)
1969: Stones in the Park (DVD)
1970: Gimme Shelter, directed by Albert and David Maysles (DVD)
1974: Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, directed by Rolin Binzer
1982: Rocks Off and Let's Spend the Night Together, both directed by Hal Ashby (DVD)
1984: Video Rewind (VHS)
1989: 25x5 - The Continuing Adventures of the Rolling Stones (VHS)
1990: Stones at the Max, directed by Julien Temple (DVD)
1995: The Rolling Stones: Voodoo Lounge Live (DVD)
1996:

Bridges to Babylon Buy this CD	Love You Live Buy this CD	Sympathy for the Devil Remixes Buy this CD	Out of Control Buy this CD	Bigger Bang Buy this CD
Out of Our Heads [UK] Buy this CD	Out of Our Heads [UK] Buy this CD	Out of Our Heads [UK] Buy this CD	Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Buy this CD	Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Buy this CD

The Rolling Stones

Biography

Biography

Contents

History

Early history

1962–1964

1965–1969

1969–1974

1974–1982

1983–1991

1992–2004

2005-present

Musical evolution

Infusion of American blues

Early songwriting

Band members

Line-ups

Discography

Concert tours

Official videography