Popular music · Rock
1962–present · British (London)
British rhythm and blues; blues rock
Formed in London in 1962 and named after a Muddy Waters song, the Rolling Stones were marketed as the dangerous alternative to the Beatles and outlasted everyone. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards became one of the great songwriting partnerships, and the line-up of Jagger, Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and a rotating lead guitarist — Brian Jones, then Mick Taylor, then Ronnie Wood — produced a run of albums from 1968 to 1972 that is still the benchmark for rock and roll.
A 1965 single built on a fuzz-box riff its guitarist dreamt in a Florida motel and taped half asleep (1965)
'(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' — Richards recorded the riff on a cassette machine in his sleep; the fuzz was a Gibson Maestro pedal. Their first US number one.
A 1968 album opening with a narrator who introduces himself as a man of wealth and taste (1968)
Beggars Banquet, opening with 'Sympathy for the Devil'; the original lavatory-wall sleeve was banned and replaced with a plain white invitation.
A 1969 song whose gospel choir and French horn answer the decade's optimism with a shrug about what you need (1969)
'You Can't Always Get What You Want', from Let It Bleed, with the London Bach Choir.
A 1971 sleeve designed by Andy Warhol featuring a close-up of jeans with a working zip (1971)
Sticky Fingers — the zip damaged records stacked in transit; the album also introduced the tongue-and-lips logo on its label.
A 1972 double album recorded in the basement of a Côte d'Azur villa the guitarist had rented to escape British tax (1972)
Exile on Main St., cut at Villa Nellcôte, Villefranche-sur-Mer, and widely voted their best.
A 1978 single with a falsetto disco chorus about a city that never sleeps, which drew protests over a line about girls (1978)
'Miss You', from Some Girls — their last US number one single.
A 1965 song about a suburban housewife's little helper, banned by some radio stations for its drug reference (1966)
'Mother's Little Helper', from Aftermath — the first album of theirs written entirely by Jagger and Richards.
A 2023 album, their first of original songs in eighteen years, featuring posthumous drumming by their late drummer (2023)
Hackney Diamonds — Charlie Watts appears on two tracks recorded before his death, with Steve Jordan on the rest.