Mick Jagger met Keith Richards at school in Dartford, Kent and they bonded over a mutual appreciation of Black American blues and rock. In 1962, after a chance re-encounter at a train station, Jagger dropped out of the prestigious London School of Economics to form a music group with Richards and multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones. They decided on the name The Rolling Stones.
bad boy image
The band gave their first performance on 22 July 1962 at London venue Marquee International Jazz Club. They began with cover songs, but by the following year had developed their own music, sound and style. The three settled into a fixed line-up with bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts and decided on an image that was the antithesis of that of the Beatles: raunchy, rebellious and animalistic.
The Stones became identified with the youthful counterculture of the 1960s. Jagger’s distinctive voice and energetic live performances and Richards’ guitar style led to a deal with Decca Records. They produced a series of international No. 1 hits, including “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965), “Paint It Black” (1966) and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (1969).
However, they became notorious for their love lives and drug use, and were subject to police raids. Jones left the band after his drug and alcohol abuse became problematic. Soon afterwards, he died by drowning in a swimming pool.
ANIMOSITY AND REVIVAL
With Mick Taylor now on lead guitar, the Stones produced iconic album Sticky Fingers (1971), introducing the ‘tongue and lips’ logo. It was the first of eight consecutive No. 1 studio albums in the US. However, by the mid-1970s, growing animosity between Jagger and Richards had taken the band to the edge of oblivion. Taylor left and was replaced by Ronnie Wood, but many believed the Stones were over. Incredibly, though, just at a time when digital piracy was on the rise, the Stones were back! In 1989, the album Steel Wheels suggested the old friends were working well together again. They began to tour and proved a huge concert attraction. The 1994 album Voodoo Lounge was a massive success.
NEVER STOP
Well into the millennium, The Rolling Stones, with Darryl Jones replacing Bill Wyman, who had retired, were giving the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Their 2016 album Blue & Lonesome became their twelfth UK No.1 album. Charlie Watts died in 2021. But near-octogenarians Jagger and Richards, the veteran bad boys of British rock, continue to write, tour and produce to this day.
ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
In late 1967, Mick Jagger was amazed to see a new magazine at a newsstand with a name almost identical to that of his band. The Stones were rising stars at the time and the magazine was named in honour of them, of Muddy Waters’ song “Rollin’ Stone” and of Bob Dylan’s song “Like a Rolling Stone”. Initially the band sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, accusing the magazine of copyright violation. However, Wenner was convinced the band would not follow up. Subsequently, a mutually-beneficial relationship developed, which endured for over fifty years. The Stones have appeared on the cover of the magazine thirty times, and it has become a place for the bandmates to explain themselves and their songs, and sometimes even send messages to one another.
