The Rolling Stones
Formed
July 1962, London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Members
Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica, percussion, guitar, piano, bass), Keith Richards (guitar, vocals, bass, double bass), Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica, sitar, dulcimer, marimba, recorder, piano, Mellotron, tambura, vocals, 1962-69), Ian Stewart (piano, 1962-63), Dick Taylor (bass, 1962), Tony Chapman (drums, 1962), Mick Avory (drums, 1962), Bill Wyman (bass, maracas, vocals, double bass, 1962-92), Charlie Watts (drums, percussion, vocals, 1963-2021), Mick Taylor (guitar, bass, 1969-74), Ron Wood (guitar, vocals, bass drum, bass, drums, saxophone, pedal steel, 1974-present)
Related Artists
Notes
Founders of Rolling Stones Records
Also Known As
The Rollin' Stones [1962], Nanker Phelge [1963-65], The Stones, Stones, Rolling Stones
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Ellison
"Critics will tell you that the Stones were special because there was an undercurrent of danger in their music. OK, true enough. But that wasn't the reason it was popular (if it had been, the Velvet Underground would have sold a shitload). It was because Keith fired off some of the greatest riffs ever. It was because Charlie and Bill were one of the tightest rhythm sections any band will ever have. It was because Mick's combination of attitude and charisma still makes him the standard by which all frontmen are judged. It was because their sound was one of popular music's most instantly recognizable, even when Brian was plucking on his sitar or the band were trying country on for size. All of these things are why people still jump at the chance to see them in concert."
RYM Rough Guide for The Rolling Stones
Biography
The group got popular quickly, playing shows that included covers of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. In May 1963, Andrew Loog Oldham became the band’s manager. Oldham imagined the Stones as a nasty counterpoint to The Beatles, featuring unmatched clothing, long hair, and an unclean appearance, wanting to establish them as ‘threatening and animalistic". Stewart then left the official line-up, but remained as road manager and touring keyboardist. Decca Records soon signed the band, with a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On" being released as their first single, on 7 June 1963. Τheir first album The Rolling Stones, released in 1964 (issued in the US as England's Newest Hit Makers), consisted primarily of covers. The EP, Five by Five, followed in the UK in August 1964. In the US the EP was expanded into their second LP, 12 × 5, which was released in October. The band's second UK LP, The Rolling Stones No.2, was released in January 1965 and reached no. 1 in the charts. The US version, released in February as The Rolling Stones, Now!, reached no. 5.
The single "The Last Time", released in February, was the first Jagger/Richards composition to reach no. 1 in the charts. Their first international no. 1 hit was "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", recorded in May 1965 during the band's third North American tour. The US version of the LP Out of Our Heads, released in July 1965, also went to no. 1. Their second international no. 1 single "Get Off of My Cloud" was released in the autumn of 1965. The next year, the album Aftermath was released. It was the first LP to be composed entirely of Jagger/Richards songs. On this album, Jones' contributions expanded beyond guitar and harmonica, by adding sitar, dulcimer, and marimbas in the songs. Additionally, the single "Paint It Black" reached no. 1 in both the UK and US in May 1966.
During their North American tour in June and July 1966, Stones' concerts proved highly successful with young people, while alienating local police who had the exhausting task of controlling the rebellious crowds. In an effort to capitalise on this, London Records released the live album Got Live If You Want It! in December. The band's first greatest hits album Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) was released in the UK in November. After the psychedelia-influenced Between the Buttons was released in January 1967, Jagger, Richards, and Jones began to be hounded by authorities over their recreational drug use. In December 1967, the band released Their Satanic Majesties Request. The album drew unfavourable reviews and was widely regarded as a poor imitation of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The band parted ways with Oldham during the sessions.
Predated by the single "Jumpin' Jack Flash", the album Beggars Banquet (released in 1968), marked the band's return to their rhythm and blues roots. It was also the beginning of their collaboration with producer Jimmy Miller. It featured the lead single "Street Fighting Man" (which addressed the political upheavals of May 1968) and "Sympathy for the Devil". For various reasons, Jones felt alienated from the band, and was only sporadically contributing at this point. Richards reported that in a June meeting, Jones admitted that he was unable to "go on the road again", and left the band. On 3 July 1969, less than a month later, Jones drowned under mysterious circumstances in the swimming pool at his home.
The band auditioned several guitarists as a replacement for Jones, before settling on Mick Taylor who was recommended by John Mayall. The band’s fifth US no. 1 single, "Honky Tonk Women", was released in July as well. The Stones' last album of the 1960s was Let It Bleed. It featured "Gimme Shelter", "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Midnight Rambler", with both Jones and Taylor performing on the album. After the US tour ended, the band played a show at the Altamont Speedway in San Francisco. The Hells Angels biker gang provided security, and a fan, Meredith Hunter, was stabbed and beaten to death by the Angels after they realised he was armed. Part of the tour, and the Altamont concert, was documented in 1970’s film Gimme Shelter. In response to the growing popularity of bootleg recordings (in particular Live'r Than You'll Ever Be), the live album 'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!': The Rolling Stones in Concert was released in 1970.
The band’s next album, Sticky Fingers, was released in March 1971, featuring a cover designed by Andy Warhol. Sticky Fingers was also the group’s first record to feature their famous logo, consisting of a pair of lips with a lapping tongue. Containing some of their best-known songs, in "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses", the album continued the band's immersion into heavily blues-influenced compositions, noted for their "loose, ramshackle ambience". Compilation album, Hot Rocks (1964-1971), followed a few months later. After the release of Sticky Fingers, the Stones left England after receiving advice from their financial manager. The band moved to France, and using their mobile studio, they held recording sessions in the basement of a villa Richards had rented. The resulting double album, Exile on Main St., was released in May 1972. A heavy record with no obvious hits (as in previous releases), Exile is considered as one of the Stones' best albums, and one of the best albums of the ‘70s in general. The film Ladies & Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, documented the subsequent tour, and showed the band in top form.
In November 1972, the Stones began recordings in Jamaica, for the album Goats Head Soup; it was released in 1973 and reached no. 1 in both the UK and US. The album, which contained the worldwide hit "Angie", was the first in a string of commercially successful, but critically tepidly received, studio albums. Another legal battle over drugs, interrupted the making of Goats Head Soup, complicating the band's plans for their Pacific tour in early 1973. Their next album, It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, was released in 1974. It proved to be Taylor’s final release with the band, as tour life had taken a toll on his health, but also as he had noticed that some of his contributions went unnoticed on album credits. In 1975, Faces guitarist Ron Wood was enlisted as a replacement for Taylor. Wood had already recorded and played live with Richards, and had contributed to the writing of the track "It's Only Rock 'n Roll".
After the release of 1976's Black and Blue, Jagger booked live recording sessions at a club in Toronto, to produce 1977’s live album Love You Live. Richards' addiction to heroin delayed his arrival in Toronto, and on 24 February 1977, when Richards flew in from London, he was temporarily detained by Canadian customs after he was found in possession of a burnt spoon and hash residue. Three days later, the Police discovered heroin in Richards' room. He was charged with importing narcotics into Canada, an offence that carried a minimum 7-year sentence. The prosecutor later conceded that Richards had procured the drugs after his arrival.
By the mid-'70s, after Punk Rock became influential, many people had begun to view the Rolling Stones as an outdated band. The band’s popularity would be re-established in 1978 though, after the release of Some Girls, in part as a response to Punk. While including the hit single "Miss You" (and also "Beast of Burden"), many of the abum’s songs, were fast, basic, guitar-driven rock & roll. Following the success of Some Girls, the band released their next album, Emotional Rescue, in 1980, hitting No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. During recording sessions for the album, a rift between Jagger and Richards slowly developed. In 1981, the group went on a US tour, and leaving little time to write and record a new album, that year's resulting LP, Tattoo You, featured a number of older compositions. It included the hit single "Start Me Up", with some songs featuring saxophonist Sonny Rollins. The tour was the band’s biggest production to date. In 1982, former The Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Chuck Leavell, became a steady touring member of the Stones.
Their next album Undercover was released in 1983. Despite good reviews, the record sold below expectations and there was no tour to support it. By this time, the Jagger/Richards rift had grown significantly. To Richards' annoyance, Jagger signed a solo deal and spent much of 1984 writing songs for his debut album. He also declared his growing lack of interest in the Rolling Stones, and by 1985, he was spending more time on solo recordings. With Jagger often being absent from the studio, much of the material for 1986’s Dirty Work were generated by Richards (joined mainly by Wood). In December 1985, Ian Stewart died of a heart attack. Dirty Work was released in March 1986 to mixed reviews. Relations between Richards and Jagger were at an all-time low, with Jagger refusing to tour to promote the album and instead undertaking a solo tour. As a result of their animosity, the Stones almost broke up.
Jagger and Richards both went on to release solo albums the next years, but in early 1989, after the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the two set aside their animosity and went to work on a new album. 1989’s Steel Wheels, was seen as a return to form, reaching no. 2 in the UK and no. 3 in the US. The world tour that followed, was their biggest stage production to date, and would be Wyman's last, as he would leave the band in 1992. Bassist Darryl Jones (a former sideman of Miles Davis, and Sting) joined as Wyman's replacement for 1994's Voodoo Lounge. The Rolling Stones ended the ‘90s with the album Bridges to Babylon, released in 1997 to mixed reviews, including the hit "Anybody Seen My Baby?".
The band remained a huge concert attraction in the following years. In 2005 they released the album A Bigger Bang, which included the songs "Streets of Love" and "Back of My Hand". By the end of 2005, the “Bigger Bang” tour had set a record of $162 million in gross receipts, breaking the North American mark set by the band in 1994. On 18 February 2006, the band played a free concert to over 1 million people at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. During autumn, Jagger and Richards worked with producer Don Was to add new vocals and guitar parts to unfinished songs from the Exile sessions, with single "Plundered My Soul / All Down the Line" released in 2010. In 2012, the documentary Crossfire Hurricane was also released, followed by new single "Doom and Gloom".
In December 2016, the band released a Blues covers album, called Blue & Lonesome. During the band's “No Filter” tour, in August 2021, it was announced that Watts would undergo an unspecified medical procedure and would not perform on the remaining dates. Watts died on 24 August 2021, at the age of 80. The band began a new tour in 2022, with Steve Jordan on drums. In 2023, the Stones released their first album with new material in 18 years, called Hackney Diamonds.
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