The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first stable line-up consisted of bandleader Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica, keyboards), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar, vocals), Bill Wyman (bass), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano). Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued to work with the band as a contracted musician until his death in 1985. The band’s primary songwriters, Jagger and Richards, assumed leadership after Andrew Loog Oldham became the group’s manager. Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974. After Taylor left the band, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and continues on guitar in tandem with Richards. Since Wyman’s departure in 1993, Darryl Jones has served as touring bassist. The Stones have not had an official keyboardist since 1963, but have employed several musicians in that role, including Jack Nitzsche (1965–1971), Nicky Hopkins (1967–1982), Billy Preston (1971–1981), Ian McLagan (1978–1981), and Chuck Leavell (1982–present).
The Rolling Stones were at the forefront of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the United States in 1964 and were identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. Rooted in blues and early rock and roll, the band started out playing covers but found more success with their own material; songs such as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Paint It Black” became international hits. After a short period of experimentation with psychedelic rock in the mid-1960s, the group returned to its “bluesy” roots with Beggars Banquet (1968), which along with its follow-ups Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main St. (1972), is generally considered to be the band’s best work and is seen as their “Golden Age.” It was during this period they were first introduced on stage as “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.”
The band continued to release commercially successful albums through the 1970s and early 1980s, including Some Girls (1978) and Tattoo You (1981), the two best-sellers in their discography. During the 1980s, the band infighting curtailed their output and they only released two more underperforming albums and did not tour for the rest of the decade. Their fortunes changed at the end of the decade, when they released Steel Wheels (1989), promoted by a large stadium and arena tour, the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour. Since the 1990s, new material has been less frequent. Despite this, the Rolling Stones continue to be a huge attraction on the live circuit. By 2007, the band had four of the top five highest-grossing concert tours of all time: Voodoo Lounge Tour (1994–1995), Bridges to Babylon Tour (1997–1998), Licks Tour (2002–2003) and A Bigger Bang (2005–2007). Musicologist Robert Palmer attributes the endurance of the Rolling Stones to their being “rooted in traditional verities, in rhythm-and-blues and soul music”, while “more ephemeral pop fashions have come and gone”.
The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them fourth on the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” list and their estimated record sales are above 250 million. They have released 30 studio albums, 23 live albums and numerous compilations.
Early history
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger became childhood friends and classmates in 1950 in Dartford, Kent. The Jagger family moved to Wilmington, Kent, five miles (8.0 km) away, in 1954. In the mid-1950s, Jagger formed a garage band with his friend Dick Taylor; the group mainly played material by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin’ Wolf and Bo Diddley. Jagger met Richards again on 17 October 1961 on platform two of Dartford railway station. The Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records Jagger was carrying revealed a shared interest. A musical partnership began shortly afterwards. Richards and Taylor often met Jagger at his house. The meetings moved to Taylor’s house in late 1961 where Alan Etherington and Bob Beckwith joined the trio; the quintet called themselves the Blues Boys.
In March 1962, the Blues Boys read about the Ealing Jazz Club in Jazz News newspaper, which mentioned Alexis Korner’s rhythm and blues band, Blues Incorporated. The group sent a tape of their best recordings to Korner, who was favourably impressed. On 7 April, they visited the Ealing Jazz Club where they met the members of Blues Incorporated, who included slide guitarist Brian Jones, keyboardist Ian Stewart and drummer Charlie Watts. After a meeting with Korner, Jagger and Richards started jamming with the group.
Jones, no longer in a band, advertised for bandmates in Jazz Weekly, while Stewart found them a practice space; together they decided to form a band playing Chicago blues. Soon after, Jagger, Taylor and Richards left Blues Incorporated to join Jones and Stewart. The first rehearsal included guitarist Geoff Bradford and vocalist Brian Knight, both of whom decided not to join the band. They objected to playing the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs preferred by Jagger and Richards. In June 1962 the addition of the drummer Tony Chapman completed the line-up of Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart and Taylor. According to Richards, Jones named the band during a phone call to Jazz News. When asked by a journalist for the band’s name, Jones saw a Muddy Waters LP lying on the floor; one of the tracks was “Rollin’ Stone”
1962–1964: Building a following
Jones, Jagger, Richards, Stewart, and Taylor played a gig billed as “the Rollin’ Stones” on 12 July 1962, at the Marquee Club in London. Shortly afterwards, the band went on their first tour of the UK, which they called a “training ground” tour, because it was a new experience for all of them. Their material included the Chicago blues as well as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs. The band’s original rhythm section did not include bassist Bill Wyman, who joined in December 1962, or drummer Charlie Watts, who joined in January 1963. By 1963 they were finding their musical stride as well as popularity. In 1964 two unscientific opinion polls rated the band as Britain’s most popular group, outranking even the Beatles. The band’s name was changed shortly after their first gig to “The Rolling Stones”. The group’s then acting manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, secured a Sunday afternoon residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, London, in February 1963. He claimed this triggered an “international renaissance for the blues”.
In May 1963, The Rolling Stones signed Andrew Loog Oldham as their manager. His previous clients, the Beatles directed the former publicist to the band. Because Oldham was only nineteen and had not reached the age of majority—he was also younger than anyone in the band—he could not obtain an agent’s licence or sign any contracts without his mother co-signing. By necessity he joined with booking agent Eric Easton to secure record financing and assistance booking venues. Gomelsky, who had no written agreement with the band, was not consulted. Initially, Oldham tried applying the strategy used by Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager and have the band members wear suits. He later changed his mind and imagined a band which contrasted with the Beatles, featuring unmatched clothing, long hair, and an unclean appearance. He wanted to make the Stones “a raunchy, gamy, unpredictable bunch of undesirables” and to “establish that the Stones were threatening, uncouth and animalistic”. Stewart left the official line-up, but remained road manager and touring keyboardist. Of Stewart’s decision, Oldham later said, “Well, he just doesn’t look the part, and six is too many for [fans] to remember the faces in the picture.” Later, Oldham reduced the band members’ ages in publicity material to make them appear as teenagers.
Decca Records, which had declined to sign a deal with the Beatles, gave the Rolling Stones a recording contract with favourable terms. The band got three times a new act’s typical royalty rate, full artistic control of recordings and ownership of the recording master tapes. The deal also let the band use non-Decca recording studios. Regent Sound Studios, a mono facility equipped with egg boxes on the ceiling for sound treatment, became their preferred location. Oldham, who had no recording experience but made himself the band’s producer, said Regent had a sound that “leaked, instrument-to-instrument, the right way” creating a “wall of noise” that worked well for the band. Because of Regent’s low booking rates, the band could record for extended periods rather than the usual three-hour blocks common at other studios. All tracks on the first Rolling Stones album, The Rolling Stones, were recorded there.
A cover version of Chuck Berry’s “Come On” was the Rolling Stones’ first single, released on 7 June 1963. The band refused to play it at live gigs, and Decca bought only one ad to promote the record.
With Oldham’s direction, fan-club members bought copies at record shops polled by the charts, helping “Come On” rise to No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart. Having a charting single gave the band entree to play outside London, starting with a booking at the Outlook Club in Middlesbrough on 13 July, sharing the billing with The Hollies. Later in 1963 Oldham and Easton arranged the band’s first big UK concert tour as a supporting act for American stars including Bo Diddley, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers. The tour gave the band the opportunity to hone their stagecraft. During the tour the band recorded their second single, a Lennon–McCartney-penned number entitled “Man”. The song was written and given to the Stones when John Lennon and Paul McCartney visited them in the studio as the two Beatles liked giving the copyrights to songs away to their friends. It reached No. 12 on the UK charts. The Beatles 1963 album, With the Beatles, includes their version of the song. The third single by the Stones, Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away”, reflecting Bo Diddley’s style, was released in February 1964 and reached No. 3.
Oldham saw little future for an act that lost significant songwriting royalties by playing songs of what he described as “middle-aged blacks”, limiting the appeal to teenage audiences. Jagger and Richards decided to write songs together. Oldham described the first batch as “soppy and imitative”.] Because the band’s songwriting developed slowly, songs on their first album The Rolling Stones (1964)were primarily covers, with only one Jagger/Richards original—”Tell Me (You’re Coming Back)”—and two numbers credited to Nanker Phelge, the pen name used for songs written by the entire group. The Rolling Stones’ first US tour in June 1964 was “a disaster” according to Wyman. When we arrived, we didn’t have a hit record [there] or anything going for us.” When the band appeared on the variety show The Hollywood Palace, that week’s guest host, Dean Martin, mocked both their hair and their performance. During the tour they recorded for two days at Chess Studios in Chicago, meeting many of their most important influences, including Muddy Waters. These sessions included what would become the Rolling Stones’ first No. 1 hit in the UK, their cover version of Bobby and Shirley Womack’s “It’s All Over Now”.
The Stones followed the Famous Flames, featuring James Brown, in the theatrical release of the 1964 film T.A.M.I. Show, which showcased American acts with British Invasion artists. According to
1965–1967: Height of fame
On 25 October the band appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Because of the pandemonium surrounding the Stones, Sullivan banned them from his show.[70] However, he booked them for an appearance in the following year. Their second LP, 12 X 5, which was only available in the US, was released during the tour. During the early Stones’ releases, Richards was typically credited as “Richard”.
The Rolling Stones’ fifth UK single, a cover of Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster”—with “Off the Hook”, credited to Nanker Phelge, as the B-side—was released in November 1964 and became their second No. 1 hit in the UK. The band’s US distributors, London Records, declined to release “Little Red Rooster” as a single. In December 1964, the distributor released the band’s first single with Jagger/Richards originals on both sides: “Heart of Stone”, with “What a Shame” as the B-side; the single went to No. 19 in the US.
The band’s second UK LP, The Rolling Stones No. 2, was released in January 1965 and reached No. 1 on the charts. The US version, released in February as The Rolling Stones, Now!, reached No. 5. The album was recorded at Chess Studios in Chicago and RCA Studios in Los Angeles. In January and February that year the band played 34 shows for around 100,000 people in Australia and New Zealand. The single “The Last Time”, released in February, was the first Jagger/Richards composition to reach No. 1 on the UK charts; it reached No. 9 in the US.
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. Richards recorded the guitar riff that drives the song with a fuzzbox as a scratch track to guide a horn section. Nevertheless, the final cut was without the planned horn overdubs. Issued in the summer of 1965, it was their fourth UK No. 1 and their first in the US where it spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It was a worldwide commercial success for the band. The US version of the LP Out of Our Heads, released in July 1965, also went to No 1; it included seven original songs, three Jagger/Richards numbers and four credited to Nanker Phelge. Their second international No. 1 single “Get Off of My Cloud” was released in the autumn of 1965, followed by another US-only LP, December’s Children.
The album Aftermath, released in the late spring of 1966, was the first LP to be composed entirely of Jagger/Richards songs; it reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US. On this album Jones’ contributions expanded beyond guitar and harmonica. To the Middle Eastern-influenced “Paint It, Black” he added sitar; to the ballad “Lady Jane” he added dulcimer and to “Under My Thumb” he added marimbas. Aftermath also contained “Goin’ Home”, a nearly 12-minute-long song that included elements of jamming and improvisation.
The Stones’ success on the British and American singles charts peaked during the 1960s. “Breakdown “was released in February 1966 and reached No. 2 in the UK and US charts; “Paint It, Black” reached No. 1 in the UK and US in May 1966. “Mother’s Little Helper”, released in June 1966, reached No. 8 in the US; it was one of the first pop songs to discuss the issue of prescription drug abuse. “Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?” was released in September 1966 and reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. It had a number of firsts for the group: it was the first Stones recording to feature brass horns and the back-cover photo on the original US picture sleeve depicted the group satirically dressed in drag. The song was accompanied by one of the first official music videos, directed by Peter Whitehead.
January 1967 saw the release of Between the Buttons, which reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 2 in the US. It was Andrew Oldham’s last venture as the Rolling Stones’ producer. Allen Klein took over his role as the band’s manager in 1965. Richards recalled, “There was a new deal with Decca to be made … and he said he could do it.”
The US version included the double A-side single “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday”, which went to No. 1 in the US and No. 3 in the UK.
When the band went to New York to perform the numbers on The Ed Sullivan Show in January, they were ordered to change the lyrics of the refrain of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to “let’s spend some time together”.
In early 1967, Jagger, Richards and Jones began to be hounded by authorities over their recreational drug use, 
after News of the World ran a three-part feature entitled “Pop Stars and Drugs: Facts That Will Shock You”. The series described alleged LSD parties hosted by The Moody Blues 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 instalment (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 Rolling 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 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. Two days after the article was published Jagger filed a writ for libel against the News of the World.
A week later 12 February, Sussex police, tipped off by the paper, which had been tipped off by his chauffeur raided a party at Keith Richards’ home, Redlands. No arrests were made at the time, but Jagger, Richards and their friend art dealer Robert Fraser were subsequently charged with drug offences. Andrew Oldham was afraid of being arrested and fled to America. Richards said in 2003, “When we got busted at Redlands, it suddenly made us realize 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.” On the treatment of the man responsible for the raid, he later added: “As I heard it, he never walked the same again.”
In March 1967, while awaiting the consequences of the police raid, Jagger, Richards and Jones took a short trip to Morocco, accompanied by Marianne Faithfull, Jones’ girlfriend Anita Pallenberg and other friends. During this trip the stormy relations between Jones and Pallenberg deteriorated to the point that she left Morocco with Richards. 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.” 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.
On 10 May 1967, the day Jagger, Richards and Fraser were arraigned in connection with the Redlands charges, Jones’ house was raided by police. He was arrested and charged with possession of cannabis. Three of the five Stones now faced drug charges. Jagger and Richards were tried at the end of June. Jagger received a three-month prison sentence for the possession of four amphetamine tablets; Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to a year in prison. Both Jagger and Richards were imprisoned at that point but were released on bail the next day pending appeal. The Times ran the famous editorial entitled “Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?” in which conservative editor William Rees-Mogg surprised his readers by his unusually critical discourse on 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 their fans’ loyalty. It began with the sound of prison doors closing, and the accompanying music video included allusions to the trial of Oscar Wilde. On 31 July, the appeals court overturned Richards’ conviction, and reduced Jagger’s sentence to a conditional discharge. Jones’ trial took place in November 1967. In December, after appealing the original prison sentence, Jones received a £1,000 fine and was put on three years’ probation, with an order to seek professional help.
1968–1972: “Golden Age”
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 subsequent album, Beggars Banquet, an eclectic mix of country and blues-inspired tunes, marked the band’s return to their 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 “Devil”. Controversy over the design of the album cover, which featured a public toilet with graffiti covering the walls of a stall, delayed the album’s release for nearly six months. It was well received at the time of release and reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 5 in the US.
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, which originally began as an idea about “the new shape of the rock-and-roll concert tour”, was filmed at the end of 1968. It featured John Lennon, Yoko Ono, the Dirty Mac, the Who, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull, and Taj Mahal.
By the time of Beggars Banquet‘s release, Brian Jones was only sporadically contributing to the band. Jagger said that Jones was “not psychologically suited to this way of life”. 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, Watts and himself at Jones’ house, Jones admitted that he was unable to “go on the road again”, and left the band saying, “I’ve left, and if I want to I can come back.” On 3 July 1969, less than a month later, Jones drowned under mysterious circumstances in the swimming pool at his home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. Several guitarists were auditioned as a replacement for Jones including Paul Kossoff before settling on Mick Taylor following a recommendation from John Mayall to Jagger.
The Rolling Stones were scheduled to play at a free concert for Blackhill Enterprises in London’s Hyde Park, two days after Jones’ death; they decided to go ahead with the show as a tribute to him. The concert, their first with new guitarist Mick Taylor, was performed in front of an estimated 250,000 fans. A Granada Television production team filmed the performance, which was broadcast on British television as The Stones in the Park. Blackhill Enterprises stage manager Sam Cutler introduced the Rolling Stones on to the stage by announcing: “Let’s welcome the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.” Cutler repeated the introduction throughout their 1969 US tour. Jagger read an excerpt from Shelley’s poem Adonaïs, an elegy written on the death of his friend John Keats. They released thousands of butterflies in memory of Jonesbefore opening their set with “I’m Yours and I’m Hers”, a Johnny Winter number. Also performed, but previously unheard by the audience, were “Midnight Rambler” and “Love in Vain” from their forthcoming album Let It Bleed (released December 1969) and “Give Me A Drink”, which eventually appeared on Exile on Main St. (released May 1972). The show also included the concert debut of “Honky Tonk Women”, which the band released the previous day.
The Stones’ last album of the sixties was Let It Bleed which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 3 in the US. It featured “Gimme Shelter” with guest lead female vocals by Merry Clayton (sister of Sam Clayton, of the American rock band Little Feat).
Other tracks include “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (with accompaniment by the London Bach Choir, who initially asked that their name be removed from the album’s credits after apparently being “horrified” by the content of some of its other material, but later withdrew this request), “Midnight Rambler” as well as a cover of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain”. Jones and Taylor are both featured on the album.
Just after the US tour ended, the band performed at the Altamont Free Concert at the Altamont Speedway, about fifty miles (80 km) east of San Francisco. The Hells Angels biker gang provided security. A fan, Meredith Hunter, was stabbed and beaten to death by the Angels after they realized he was armed. Part of the tour, and the Altamont concert, was documented in Albert and David Maysles’ film Gimme Shelter. In response to the growing popularity of bootleg recordings (in particular Live’r Than You’ll Ever Be, recorded during the 1969 tour), the album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! was released in 1970. Critic Lester Bangs declared it the best ever live album. It reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 6 in the US.
At the end of the decade the band appeared on the BBC’s review of the sixties music scene Pop Go the Sixties, performing “Gimme Shelter”, which was broadcast live on 31 December 1969. The following year, the band wanted out of contracts with both Klein and Decca, but still owed them a Jagger/Richards credited single. To get back at the label and fulfil their final contractual obligation, the band came up with the track “Schoolboy Blues”—deliberately making it as crude as they could in hopes of forcing Decca to keep it “in the vaults”.
Amid contractual disputes with Klein, they formed their own record company, Rolling Stones Records. Sticky Fingers, released in March 1971, the band’s first album on their own label, featured an elaborate cover designed by Andy Warhol. It was an Andy Warhol photograph of a man from the waist down in tight jeans featuring a functioning zipper. When unzipped, it revealed the subject’s underwear, imprinted with a saying— “This Is Not Etc.” In some markets an alternate cover was released because of the perceived offensive nature of the original at the time.
Sticky Fingers‘ cover was the first to feature the logo of Rolling Stones Records, which effectively became the band’s logo. It consisted of a pair of lips with a lapping tongue. Designer John Pasche created the logo following a suggestion by Jagger to copy the out stuck tongue of the Hindu goddess Kali. Critic Sean Egan has said of the logo, “Without using the Stones’ name, it instantly conjures them, or at least Jagger, as well as a certain lasciviousness that is the Stones’ own … It quickly and deservedly became the most famous logo in the history of popular music.” The album contains one of their best-known hits, “Brown Sugar”, and the country-influenced “Dead Flowers”. “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses” were recorded at Alabama’s Muscle Shoals Sound Studio during the 1969 American tour.
1972–1977: Critical fluctuations and Ronnie Wood
Members of the band set up a complex financial structure in 1972 to reduce the amount of their taxes. Their holding company, Promogroup, has offices in both The Netherlands and the Caribbean. The Netherlands was chosen because it does not directly tax royalty payments. The band have been tax exiles ever since, meaning they can no longer use Britain as their main residence. Due to the arrangements with the holding company, the band has reportedly paid a tax of just 1.6% on their total earnings of £242 million over the past 20 years.
In November 1972 the band began recording sessions in Kingston, 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 tepidly received studio albums. The sessions for Goats Head Soup also produced unused material, most notably an early version of the popular ballad “Waiting on a Friend”, which was not released until the Tattoo You LP eight years later.
Another legal battle over drugs, dating back to their stay in France, interrupted the making of Goats Head Soup. Authorities had issued a warrant for Richards’ arrest and the other band members had to return briefly to France for questioning. This, along with Jagger’s 1967 and 1970 convictions on drug charges, 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. A European tour followed in September and October 1973, which bypassed France, coming after Richards’ arrest in England on drug charges.
The 1974 album It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll was recorded in the Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany; it reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in the US. Miller was not invited to return as the album’s album producer because his “contribution level had dropped”.Jagger and Richards produced the album credited as “the Glimmer Twins”. Both the album and the single of the same name were hits.
Near the end of 1974, Taylor began to lose patience after years of feeling like a “junior citizen in the band of jaded veterans”. The band’s situation made normal functioning complicated, with members living in different countries, and legal barriers restricting where they could tour. In addition, drug use was starting to affect Richards’ productivity, and Taylor felt some of his own creative contributions were going unrecognized. At the end of 1974, with a recording session already booked in Munich to record another album, Taylor quit the Rolling Stones.
The Stones needed a new guitarist, and the recording sessions for the next album, Black and Blue (1976) (No. 2 in the UK, No. 1 in the US) in Munich provided an opportunity for some guitarists hoping to join the band to work while trying out. Guitarists as stylistically disparate as Peter Frampton and Jeff Beck were auditioned as well as Robert A. Johnson and Shuggie Otis. Both Beck and Irish blues rock guitarist Rory Gallagher later claimed they had played without realizing they were being auditioned. American session players Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel also tried out, but Richards and Jagger preferred for the band to remain purely British. When Ronnie Wood auditioned, everyone agreed he was the right choice. He 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”. He had declined Jagger’s earlier offer to join the Stones, because of his commitment to the Faces, saying “that’s what’s really important to me”. Faces’ lead singer Rod Stewart went so far as to say he would take bets that Wood would not join the Stones.
Wood officially joined the Rolling Stones in 1975 for their upcoming Tour of the Americas, which was a contributing factor in the disbandment of the Faces. Unlike the other band members, however, Wood was a salaried employee, which remained the case until the early 1990s, when he finally joined the Stones’ business partnership.
The 1975 Tour of the Americas kicked off in New York City with the band performing on a flatbed trailer being pulled down Broadway. The tour featured stage props including a giant phallus and a rope on which Jagger swung out over the audience. Jagger had booked live recording sessions at the El Mocambo, a club in Toronto, to produce a long-overdue live album, 1977’s Love You Live, the first Stones live album since Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!. It reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 5 in the US.
Richards’ addiction to heroin delayed his arrival in Toronto; the other members had already arrived. On 24 February 1977, when Richards and his family flew in from London, they were temporarily detained by Canada Customs after Richards was found in possession of a burnt spoon and hash residue. Three days later, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, armed with an arrest warrant for Anita Pallenberg, discovered 22 grams (0.78 oz) of heroin in Richards’ room. He was charged with importing narcotics into Canada, an offence that carried a minimum seven-year sentence.
El Mocambo where some of the live album Love You Live was recorded in 1977
The Crown prosecutor later conceded that Richards had procured the drugs after his arrival. Despite the incident, the band played two shows in Toronto, only to cause more controversy when Margaret Trudeau, then-wife of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was seen partying with the band after one show. The band’s shows were not advertised to the public. Instead, 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. Contest winners who selected tickets for Friday or Saturday night were surprised to find the Rolling Stones playing.
On 4 March, Richards’ partner Anita Pallenberg pleaded guilty to drug possession and incurred a fine in connection with the original airport incident. The drug case against Richards dragged on for over a year. Ultimately, he received a suspended sentence and was ordered to play two free concerts for the CNIB in Oshawa; both shows featured the Rolling Stones and the New Barbarians, a group that Wood had put together to promote his latest solo album, which Richards also joined. This episode strengthened Richards’ resolve to stop using heroin. It also ended his relationship with Pallenberg, which had become strained since the death of their third child, Tara. Pallenberg was unable to curb her heroin addiction as Richards struggled to get clean. 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 1977, although they had long been estranged.
Although the Rolling Stones remained popular through the early 1970s, music critics had begun to grow dismissive of the band’s output, and record sales failed to meet expectations. By the mid-1970s, after punk rock became influential, many people had begun to view the Rolling Stones as an outdated band.
1978–1982: Commercial peak
The group’s fortunes changed in 1978, after the band released Some Girls, which included the hit single “Miss You”, the country ballad “Far Away Eyes”, “Beast of Burden” and “Shattered”. In part as a response to punk, many songs, particularly “Respectable”, were fast, basic, guitar-driven rock and roll, and the album’s success re-established the Rolling Stones’ immense popularity among young people. It reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in the US. Following the US Tour 1978, the band guested on the first show of the fourth season of the TV series Saturday Night Live. Following the success of Some Girls, the band released their next album Emotional Rescue in mid-1980. During recording sessions for the album, a rift between Jagger and Richards was slowly developing. Richards wanted to tour in the summer or autumn of 1980 to promote the new album. Much to his disappointment, Jagger declined. Emotional Rescue hit the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and the title track reached No.3 in the US.
The Rolling Stones performing in December 1981
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, featured a number of outtakes, including lead single “Start Me Up”, which reached No.2 in the US and ranked No.22 on Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart. Two songs (“Waiting on a Friend” (US No. 13) and “Tops”) featured Mick Taylor’s unused rhythm guitar tracks, while jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins played on “Slave” and “Waiting on a Friend”. The album reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in the US.
The Rolling Stones reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982 with “Hang Fire”. Their American Tour 1981 was their biggest, longest and most colorful production to date. It was the highest-grossing tour of that year. It included a concert at Chicago’s Checkerboard Lounge with Muddy Waters, in one of his last performances before his death in 1983. Some of the shows were recorded. This resulted in the 1982 live album Still Life (American Concert 1981) which reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 5 in the US, and the 1983 Hal Ashby concert film Let’s Spend the Night Together, filmed at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona and the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands, New Jersey.
In mid-1982, to commemorate their 20th anniversary, the Rolling Stones took their American stage show to Europe. The European Tour 1982 was their first in six years and used a similar format to the American tour. The band were joined by former Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who continues to perform and record with them. By the end of the year, the Stones signed a new four-album recording deal with a new label, CBS Records, for a reported $50 million, then the biggest record deal in history.
