The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica, guitar), and Keith Richards (guitar, vocals). Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up. R&B and blues cover songs dominated the Rolling Stones' early material, but their repertoire has always included rock and roll. Critic and musicologist Robert Palmer attributes the Rolling Stones' endurance and relevance to having been "rooted in traditional verities, in rhythm-and-blues and soul music" while "more ephemeral pop fashions have come and gone". The Rolling Stones have been credited for the greater international popularity of the primitive urban blues typified by Chess Records' artists such as Muddy Waters, who "Rollin' Stone" the song from which the band its name.
Jones first led the band until Jagger and Richards assumed leadership after teaming as songwriters. By 1969 Jones' diminishing contributions to the band and his inability to tour led to him leaving the band three weeks before he drowned in his swimming pool. His replacement Mick Taylor stayed with the band until 1974, and was replaced by Ronnie Wood. Wyman retired from the band in 1993; his replacement Darryl Jones has not been made a full member. Stewart was taken from the official line-up in 1963 and continued as the band's road manager and occasional pianist until his death in 1985. Since 1982, Chuck Leavell has been the band's primary keyboardist.
First popular in Europe, The Rolling Stones quickly became successful in North America during the British Invasion of the mid 1960s. Having released 22 studio albums in the United Kingdom (24 in the United States), nine live albums (ten in the US), and numerous compilations, their worldwide sales are estimated at more than 200 million albums.Sticky Fingers (1971) began a string of eight consecutive studio albums reaching number one in the United States. Their most recent album of entirely new material, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005. In 1989, the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004, they ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked the Rolling Stones at number ten on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists", and as the second most successful group in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Mick Jagger and Keith 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.'" Charlie Watts, a traditional jazz drummer, was also introduced to the blues through his association with the pair. "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..."
Mick Jagger, recalling when he first heard the likes of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Fats Domino, and other major American R&B artists, said it "seemed the most real thing" 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." He also stated, "when you think of some dopey, spotty seventeen year old from Dartford, who wants to be Muddy Waters-- and there were a lot of us-- in a way, very pathetic, but in another way, very... heartwarming".
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)", has been described by critic Richie Unterberger as 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". "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." The Rolling Stones did later record a version which became a top five hit in the US.
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, 'Well, at least we gave it a try...'" 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."
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." The song was based on a traditional gospel song popularised by The Staple Singers, but The Rolling Stones' number features a distinctive guitar riff (played on stage by Brian Jones).
Current members
- Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, harmonica (April 1962 – present)
- Keith Richards – electric and acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals (April 1962 – present)
- Charlie Watts – drums (January 1963 – present)
- Ronnie Wood – slide, lap and pedal steel guitars, electric guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals (March 1975 – present)
Additional musicians
- Darryl Jones – bass (January 1993 – present)
Former members
- Brian Jones – guitars, sitar, keyboards, accordion, marimba, harmonica, dulcimer, autoharp, percussion, recorder, cello, mandolin, saxophone, backing vocals (April 1962 – June 1969)
- Ian Stewart – piano, keyboards (April 1962 – May 1963; additional musician: January 1964 – December 1966, November 1968 – August 1985)
- Tony Chapman – drums (April 1962 – January 1963)
- Dick Taylor – bass (April–December 1962)
- Bill Wyman – bass, backing vocals (December 1962 – January 1993)
- Mick Taylor – electric, acoustic, and slide guitar, backing vocals (June 1969 – December 1974)
In a career that has spanned nearly half a century, The Rolling Stones have released over 100 singles, over two dozen studio albums, and numerous compilation and live albums. Ten of their studio albums are among Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with their 1972 double album Exile on Main St. placing seventh.
Official website
