Welcome to the Jeep Dive, where we sift through
mountains of information to uncover the most
impactful insights for you. Today, while we're
tackling a question that kind of echoes through
rock history, how does a band not just hang on,
but actually thrive for, what, over 60 years
now? It's more than just sticking around, isn't
it? It's about staying vital, staying relevant.
Exactly. We're talking about a cultural force,
a phenomenon that's just consistently defied
time, trends, maybe even itself sometimes. Indeed.
So today we're doing a deep dive into the phenomenal,
the enduring legacy of the Rolling Stones. Our
mission really is to unpack the key moments,
some surprising facts maybe, their incredible
musical journey, and just that sheer resilience
that led people to call them, you know, the greatest
rock and roll band in the world. Yeah, that title.
We'll get into that. And to do it, we've dug
through a whole stack of sources for you. Historical
docs, discographies, biographies, critical takes,
the lot. We're going to try and guide you through
there. Amazing. And let's be honest, often a
pretty wild journey. It's quite a ride. So expect
everything from their bluesy London roots, those
defining rivalries, you know, the Beatles comparisons.
Right. And then the huge stadium tours, the personal
dramas, the iconic logo, that sound that just
kept changing and evolving. We should find some
real aha. and yeah, probably a few laughs too.
Okay, let's rewind way back to the very start,
the genesis of these giants. We're talking late
50s, early 60s, laying that blues foundation.
It really starts with a chance meeting, doesn't
it? It does. And it's funny, before they were
Mick and Keith, they were just kids. Classmates,
actually. Childhood friends in Dartford, Kent,
way back in 1950. Wow, that early? Yeah. And
even then, Jagger, with his mate Dick Taylor,
was already seriously into American blues and
R &B, you know, the real foundational stuff,
Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley. For them,
it wasn't just tunes, it was like... An education.
A passion, yeah. So they knew each other as kids,
but then Jagger's family moved. Right, they lost
touch for a bit until this almost unbelievable
moment, October 17th, 1961, Platform 2, Dartford
Railway Station. They literally bump into each
other. No way. Yeah. And Jagger's carrying these
records, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, and Richard
sees them and instantly, bam. that shared musical
DNA clicks. That moment, just on a train platform,
that's the spark for maybe the most legendary
partnership in rock. It shows how these huge
things can start from something so small, just
a shared interest. Absolutely. And they didn't
waste time. Richards and Taylor started hanging
out at Gyre's place, listening to records, figuring
things out. By late 61, they'd roped in a couple
of others, Alan Etherington and Bob Beckwith,
and they had this little jam group called the
Blues Boys. The Blues Boys, okay? Their first
kind of band. Pretty much informal, but crucial.
Laying the groundwork, you know, getting that
chemistry going. So the Sparks there, the Blues
Boys are jamming. But how do we get to the Rolling
Stones? Putting together that original lineup.
That's a whole story in itself. It really is.
And a key place was the Ealing Jazz Club. Around
March, April 62, some of the blues boys read
about it in Jazz News. It was the place for R
&B in London then, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated
played there. Ah, Alexis Korner. Huge influence.
Massive. Jagger and Richards actually sent him
a tape. Pretty bold. And Korner was apparently
impressed. So they go down to the club and who
do they meet? Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Charlie
Watts, all playing with Korner. It was like a
magnet for talent there. So everyone's kind of
orbiting this same scene. Yeah. and then people
start shifting around. Exactly. Musical chairs,
like you said, Jagger, Richards, and Dick Taylor
eventually leave Blues Incorporated to team up
with Jones and Stewart. But it wasn't instantly
smooth sailing. Early rehearsals, some of the
more trad jazz guys, they weren't keen on the
raw Chuck Berrybo diddly stuff that Jagger and
Richards loved. Ah, so the blues rock direction
was kind of fought for right from the start.
It definitely underscored their path. And the
name. Who actually came up with the Rolling Stones?
Good question. According to Keith, it was totally
on the fly. Brian Jones was on the phone with
Jazz News trying to book a gig. They ask, what's
the band's name? Jones looks down, sees a Muddy
Waters LP on the floor, track title, Rolling
Stone. And that was it? Just like that? It's
just like that. Perfect name, really, straight
from the source. And you have to remember, in
those very early days, Brian Jones was really
seen as the leader. uncontested leader, Richard
said, he was key to getting them going. Right,
okay, so we've got the name, the core group is
forming, they have this breezy sound. Yeah. But
they need gigs. And a manager, right? That seems
crucial. Absolutely crucial. Their first official
gig as the Rolling Stones was July 12th, 1962
at the Marquis Club in London. Jones, Jagger,
Richard, Stuart, Taylor. But the rhythm section
wasn't locked yet. Still missing Wyman and Watts
in the classic lineup. Exactly. Bill Wyman didn't
join until December 62. He auditions, and apparently
they were impressed not just by his playing,
but by his gear. He had a good bass, and crucially,
those Vox AC -30 amps. Oh. The gear factor. Always
important. Always. And then, the final piece,
Charlie Watts. The classic lineup with Charlie
on drums plays its first public gig in January
63, Ealing Jazz Club again. He becomes permanent
a month later. That jazz swing he had, that was
different. And then comes the manager, Andrew
Log Oldham. Yes, May 1963. He was young, only
19, had ties to Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager.
Oldham saw the Stones and immediately got this
vision. The anti -Beatles vision. Precisely.
He saw the Beatles clean image and thought, right,
we go the other way. He deliberately crafted
that bad boy image, encouraged the mismatched
clothes, the long hair, the unclean appearance.
His words were like, a raunchy, gamey, unpredictable
bunch of undesirables. Wow. He really went for
it. Threatening, uncouth, and animalistic. Yeah.
That was a strategy. A brilliant marketing strategy,
really, carving out their own space. And he was
pretty ruthless about it. Take Ian Stewart. The
piano player. Founding member. Yeah, fantastic
player. But Oldham took him out of the official
lineup. Why? Well, he just doesn't look the part,
Oldham apparently said. And six is too many for
fans to remember the faces. Harsh, but focused
on that image. Laser focused. Thankfully, Stewart
stayed on. Road manager, session keys, played
offstage for years, eventually back on stage.
He was always part of the family, really. OK,
image sorted, lineup solidifying, time to get
into the studio. And their DECA deal. That was
interesting too, wasn't it? Very interesting.
Decca, of course, famously passed on the Beatles.
Maybe they learned their lesson. They gave the
Stones a really good deal for the time. High
royalties, artistic control. They even owned
their master tapes, which was almost unheard
of then. That's huge leverage for a new band.
Massive. They liked recording at Regent Sound
Studios. Pretty basic monoplace. And Oldham,
with zero production experience, just steps in
as producer, creates this wall of noise sound
that just worked for their raw energy. Their
first single. A cover? Yeah, Chuck Berry's. Come
on, June 63. Got to number 21 UK. Funnily enough,
the band apparently hated playing it live. Too
poppy. But it charted. How? Oldham's strategy
again? Got the fan club members to go out and
buy copies in the shops that the church compilers
polled? Bit cheeky, but it worked. Clever. And
the second single had a Beatles connection. It
did. Lennon McCartney gave him, I wanna be your
man. Got to number 13 UK. That direct link between
the two biggest bands is pretty cool. And that
led to TV. Yep. January 1st, 1964. First band
ever on BBC's Top of the Pops playing I Wanna
Be Your Man. Big moment. And Oldham kept pushing
Jagger and Richards, write your own songs. Which
they weren't sure about at first. Richard said
their early stuff sounded soppy and imitative,
but then their original started charting, and
as he put it, that gave us extraordinary confidence
to carry on. Their first album in 64 was mostly
covers showing their roots, but it had one Jagger
Richards original, plus a couple credited to
Nankerfelge. That was their collective pseudonym
for group compositions. Just a way to share the
credit, I guess. Right. So 1964 ends. They've
got a UK footing. Let's move into Act II, 65
to 72. This is where they really explode. Right.
The ascent to superstardom. But America was an
instant love. Oh, definitely not. That first
U .S. tour, June 64. Bill Wyman flat out called
it a disaster. No hit record there yet. And they
got mocked on national TV. Dean Martin on the
Hollywood Palace made fun of their hair, their
look. Ouch. Dino making fun of you. That must
have stung. Yeah, a sign their bad boy thing
wasn't quite clicking stateside yet. But there
was a crucial upside to that trip. Which was?
Chess Studios. Chicago, they spent two days recording
there, hallowed ground, you know, and they met
their heroes, Muddy Waters himself was there,
apparently asked if they were gonna help him
paint the ceiling. Huh, that's amazing. Meeting
Muddy Waters at chess, that must have felt like
validation. Totally, a spiritual pilgrimage almost,
but things really turned around with, I can't
get no satisfaction, recorded May 65 on their
third US tour. And that riff, Keith's Fuzzbox
riff, Iconic doesn't even cover it. It really
is. And apparently, that fuzz tone was almost
an accident. He used a Maestro FZ -1 fuzz tone
pedal, intending it as a guide for a horn section
he planned to add later. But the fuzz stayed.
The fuzz stayed. And it became the sound. Raw,
aggressive, totally new. That riff, born from
a placeholder idea, defined the song and arguably
lynched a whole new era of guitar tones. It shot
to number one in the US, their first. Worldwide
smash. And Keith said, the last time. The single
before it was like the bridge, right? Giving
them the confidence to write for the Stones.
Exactly. Satisfaction blew the doors open, but
the last time showed them they could write hits
themselves. After Satisfaction, it was just hit
after hit. get off of my cloud later in 65 and
paint it black in 66 global number ones they
were consolidating and with that success they
started experimenting more musically this is
where brian jones really shines is in adding
all those different textures absolutely aftermath
spring 66 huge album first one with only jagger
richard songs a massive step creatively and jones
was just playing everything. Sitar on Paint It
Black. That iconic sound. Zollsummer on Lady
Jane. Marimba's on Under My Thumb. He was bringing
in all these exotic sounds, pushing them way
beyond just blues rock. He was crucial to that
expansion. They were tackling some heavier lyrical
themes too. Mother's Little Helper. Yeah, 66.
One of the first pop songs to really talk about
prescription drug abuse. Those little yellow
pills. Pretty bold for the time. Showed they
weren't afraid of touching on darker social stuff.
Then came the big psychedelic detour. their satanic
majesty's request. December 67. Yeah, their answer
to the Spart Peppers, I suppose. Elaborate cover,
psychedelic sounds. But the reviews were pretty
harsh, weren't they? Generally unfavorable, yeah.
Seen by many as them trying too hard to copy
the Beatles. Though Bill Wyman got a song on
there. He did, in another land. Sang lead, too.
A rare moment for him, creatively on record.
This whole period, though, it wasn't just music.
It was chaos, right? Controversies, drug busts.
The Redlands raid sounds like a turning point.
Oh, the Redlands raid was massive. February 67,
police raid Keith's country house, Redlands.
Tipoff came from his chauffeur, apparently. Jagger
Richards and their art dealer friend Robert Frazier
all got charged with drug offenses. And Keith
said that's when the fun stopped. Yeah, his quote
was something like, it suddenly made us realize
that this was a whole different ball game. The
scrutiny, the pressure from authorities, it ramped
up intensely. And the sentences were heavy, initially.
Seriously heavy. Jagger got three months for
amphetamine possession. Richards got a year for
allowing cannabis smoking. They were briefly
jailed, then bailed, pending appeal. The public
reaction was huge. That famous editorial on the
Times. Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel? Exactly.
William Reeves' Moog's piece. Powerful stuff,
questioning the severity, framing it as persecution.
It really shifted public opinion. And the band
responded with a song. We love you. Kind of a
thank you to the fans for their support. Starts
with that chilling sound of prison doors slamming.
The video even referenced Oscar Wilde's trial.
It was defiant. And ultimately, the appeal worked.
Richard's conviction overturned. Jagger's sentence
reduced to basically nothing. A big win. But
while they were fighting the law, things were
fracturing inside the band, too, especially around
Brian Jones. Yeah, sadly, his health, his drug
use, it was getting worse. And then during a
trip to Morocco, his girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg,
left him for Keith. Richard's called that the
final nail in the coffin for their relationship,
just adding personal tragedy to the mix. It's
a lot to handle. But then, out of this chaos,
comes what many call the greatest rock and roll
band era, starting with a return to their roots.
Beggar's Banquet, 1968. Yes, back to the blues,
back to the grit. And their first album with
producer Jimmy Miller, who is just perfect for
them. And some absolute classics on there, Sympathy
for the Devil. With those woo -woo vocals, yeah.
And Street Fighting Man, directly tapping into
the revolutionary vibe of 68, The Student Protests.
Though the album itself got delayed, right? because
of the cover. The toilet cover. Yeah, the label
balked at the graffiti -covered bathroom wall.
Took six months to get it released with a different
cover initially. Always pushing boundaries. But
this period also saw the tragic end of Brian
Jones' time with the band. His contributions
were dwindling. Severely. Jagger said he just
wasn't psychologically suited to the lifestyle
anymore. The drugs were taking a heavy toll.
He officially left in June 1969. And then, less
than a month later... He drowned in his swimming
pool, just 27. Such a shock. And they had a concert
planned just days later. Yeah, a free concert
in Hyde Park. They decided to go ahead, make
it a tribute to Brian. It must have been incredibly
difficult. Jagger read Shelley's Adonis. They
released thousands of butterflies. And this was
Mick Taylor's debut. Jones's replacement. It
was. Taylor, the young guitar prodigy John Mayle
recommended. Playing his first gig with the Stones
in front of, what, 250 ,000 people? Incredibly
poignant, emotional day. And that's where the
famous introduction started. Apparently so. Stage
manager Sam Cutler grabs the mic. Let's welcome
the greatest rock and roll band in the world.
He kept using it on the US tour later that year.
It just stuck. Bold claim, but they started living
up to it. And 1969 also gave us Let It Bleed.
Another monster album. Absolutely. Gimme Shelter
with Mary Clayton's absolutely searing guest
vocal. Yeah. Chills every time. Still does. Yeah.
And you can't always get what you want with the
London Back Choir. Epic. Such a range on that
album. But the year ended so darkly. Altamont.
Yeah, the Altamont Free Concert, December 69.
It's supposed to be a West Coast Woodstock, but
it just went wrong. Horribly wrong. Hell's Angels
hired for security, supposedly paid in beer,
end up beating people. And then... Tragically,
a fan, Meredith Hunter, was stabbed to death
right near the stage while the Stones were playing.
And it was all captured on film. In Gimme Shelter,
the Maisels Brothers documentary, it's chilling
to watch, became this symbol of the 60s dream
turning sour, a really grim end to the decade.
So entering the 70s, they're huge, but dealing
with the fallout of Altamont and looking to get
more control? Yeah. Business -wise? Definitely.
They were really unhappy with their manager Alan
Klein and their old DECA contract. They felt
ripped off. So to fulfill their final obligation
to DECA for one last single, they recorded Cocksucker
Blues. Oh yeah. A liberately crude, raw, totally
unreleasable. The idea was Depp wouldn't be able
to put it out, thus ending the contract. It was
a power move. And it worked. That's brilliant
in a way. Taking control. Which led to... Rolling
Stones records. Their own label formed in 1971.
Total game changer. Gave them complete artistic
and financial freedom. And the first album on
their own label was Sticky Fingers. March 71
with that cover. The Warhol cover. The jeans
with the real zipper. Instantly iconic. Caused
a bit of a stir, obviously. And Sticky Fingers
was also the debut of the logo. The tongue and
lips. Probably the most famous logo in music
history. Easily. Designed by John Posh. Apparently,
Jagger suggested looking at the Hindu goddess
Kali's outstretched tongue for inspiration. Sean
Egan called it the most famous logo in the history
of popular music. Hard to argue. They were innovating
on the recording side, too, weren't they? The
mobile studio. Yeah, the Rolling Stones' mobile
studio. Ian Stewart's idea back in 68 basically
put a recording studio in a truck, meant they
could record wherever, whenever they wanted,
outside normal studio hours and houses wherever.
And other bands use it too. Oh yeah. Led Zeppelin
recorded huge chunks of Led Zeppelin III and
IV in it. Deep Purple immortalized it in Smoke
on the Water, the Rolling Truck Stones thing,
you know. It really changed how albums could
be made. Then came another big move. This one
financial. Tax Exile. Right. 1971, on the advice
of their financial guru, Prince Rupert Lowenstein,
they discovered they owed a massive amount in
unpaid UK taxes. So they relocated primarily
to the south of France. To save money, basically.
Essentially, yes. They set up this complex structure
through companies in the Netherlands and the
Caribbean, reportedly got their tax rate down
to something tiny, like 1 .6 percent. Hugely
controversial, but a very shrewd business decision
for them at the time. And this move directly
led to the recording of exile on main set. Exactly.
Released May 72, largely recorded in the basement
of Villa Nelcote, Keith's rented mansion in the
south of France, using the mobile studio parked
outside. It was apparently chaotic, legendary
sessions. And the reviews initially weren't great.
Some critics, like Lester Bangs initially, found
it kind of muddy, sprawling, inconsistent. But
opinion shifted pretty quickly. Now it's almost
universally seen as maybe their masterpiece.
A gritty, glorious double album born out of that
whole chaotic exile period. Okay, let's move
into Act III. We're talking 72 to 99, evolution,
resilience, and World War III. This period sees
big changes, starting with Mick Taylor leaving.
Yeah, late 74. Taylor's exit was complicated.
He'd been there five years, felt like a bit of
a junior citizen, as he put it. He felt his songwriting
contributions weren't getting enough recognition.
And the drug scene was getting heavy. That was
definitely a factor, creating a tough environment.
Ultimately, Taylor said he wanted to broaden
his scope, try other things. He felt overshadowed
by Mick and Keith. So another guitar search begins.
How did Ronnie Wood end up getting the gig? Well,
the recording sessions for Black and Blue in
76 basically turned into auditions. Big names
tried out. Frampton, Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher,
some maybe not even knowing it was an audition.
That's sneaky. But Ronnie Wood, who already knew
Keith well from the faces and had played on a
Stones track before. Yeah. He'd just fit. He
actually turned Jagger down at first because
he was still committed to the faces, but eventually
he joined in in 75. Though, interestingly, he
was just a salaried employee for years, until
the early 90s. Shows that hierarchy was still
there. Now, the mid 70s, punk rock explodes.
Did that make the stone seem a little old? To
some critics, yeah. They became a bit dismissive,
record sales dipped a little, punk was raw, anti
-establishment, and the Stones were, by then,
rock royalty. Some definitely saw them as outdated.
But then came some girls. 1978. Massive comeback.
Huge. It felt like their direct answer to punk
and disco, actually. Fast, basic, guitar -driven
rock, but also that huge disco hit, Miss You.
Right. Miss You is everywhere. And Beast of Burden
shattered. Great singles. The album just clicked.
It totally reestablished their popularity, especially
with younger fans. Proved they could still evolve
and deliver. And that momentum carried into the
80s. Tattoo you. 1981, another number one. And
get this, it was mostly made up of outtakes,
unfinished tracks from sessions going back years.
Seriously, tracks like Start Me Up. Yeah, Start
Me Up was originally a reggae -ish jam from the
mid -70s. They reworked it. Even some of McTaylor's
old guitar parts were on tracks like Waiting
on a Friend. And they brought in Sonny Rollins,
the jazz saxophone legend, for a couple of tracks.
Just brilliant curation, really. And the tours
were getting bigger and bigger. Colossal. The
81 American Tour was described as their biggest,
longest, most colorful production yet. Highest
-grossing tour of the year. This is also when
Chuck Lavelle joined on keyboards. Ah, Chuck
Lavelle. Still with them today, right? Yep. A
constant presence, fantastic player adds so much
to their live sound. But while they're breaking
records on tour... Yeah. ...behind the scenes,
things are getting ugly between Mick and Keith.
World War III. That's what Keith called it. Yeah,
a really serious riff developed. A lot of it
stemmed from Jagger's solo ambitions. He signed
a big solo deal with CBS. Keith felt Mick was
losing interest in the Stones, putting himself
first. So a real power struggle. Sick time. Led
to a lot of animosity, creative friction. They
were barely speaking at points. And they both
did solo albums during this time. They did. Jagger
had She's the Boss in 85, Primitive Cool in 87,
commercially successful. Keith released Talk
is Cheap in 88, his first solo album. Critically
acclaimed, fans loved it. But these solo projects
kind of fueled the fire, you know? Yeah, I can
imagine. And during all this tension, they lost
Ian Stewart. Sadly, yes. December 1985. Passed
away suddenly. He was always the quiet glue,
the sixth stone in spirit. They held a private
tribute concert for him. A really tough loss,
even amidst all the fighting. The album they
made during this period. Dirty work. 86, you
can kind of hear the tension. Oh, definitely.
It was recorded when things were at an all -time
low, as Keith put it. Jagger was apparently often
absent. Richards really drove it. Keith explicitly
called it World War III, said the band almost
broke up. It was that serious. So what brought
them back together? Seems like the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame induction in early 89 was a catalyst.
Mick, Keith, Ronnie, even Mick Taylor were all
there, sharing that moment, acknowledging their
legacy. It seemed to help them reconcile. And
that led to Steel Wheels. later in 89, and it
was hailed as a real return to form. They sounded
like a band again. It even had that track Continental
Drift recorded in Morocco with the master musicians
of Jujuka, showed they were still exploring.
And the tour for Steel Wheels was massive, too.
The Steel Wheels Urban Jungle Tour, 8990, first
world tour in seven years, biggest production
they'd ever done, highest grossing tour in the
world at that time. It was a huge statement.
The Stones are back. World War III was over,
for now. And this was Bill Wyman's last tour.
It was. He'd been thinking about for years, apparently.
Officially left in 93 after three decades, went
off to do his Rhythm King's project, another
era ending. Who replaced him? Daryl Jones came
in on bass for the Voodoo Lounge album in 94.
He'd played with Miles Davis, among others. Great
player. Still their touring bassist. And Voodoo
Lounge did well. Yeah, critically. commercially,
won a Grammy for best rock album. New producer
Don Was got a lot of credit for helping them
find a fresh but still classic sound. Now, here's
something surprising. The Stones as Internet
pioneers in 1994. It's true. November 94, they
became the first major band to broadcast a concert
over the Internet. It's like a 20 minute segment
streamed using this experimental high bandwidth
thing called the M -Bone. 10 frames per second.
Something like that. Primitive by today's standards.
But it was one of the very first public demos
of streaming video showed they were willing to
embrace new tech early on. Pretty forward thinking.
And they finished the 90s still touring strong.
Absolutely. Bridges to Babylon tour. No security
tour. Still filling stadiums. Still delivering
incredible live shows. Their resilience is just
something else. OK. Act four. The 2000s to now.
still going strong into their sixth decade and
beyond. Let's talk about the 40th anniversary.
2002, they marked it with 40 licks, that big
greatest hits collection, included four new songs
too, sold over seven million copies, still massive.
And they did that huge concert in Toronto in
2003 for SARS relief. Molson Canadian Rocks for
Toronto, yeah. Almost half a million people,
an incredible turnout, showed their cultural
pull, using their fame for a good cause. But
there was some friction around digital stuff
too. DVDs. Ah, right. They did an exclusive DVD
deal for their four Flix box set with Best Buy
in the U .S. Other big retailers like HMV Canada,
Circuit City, they boycotted it in protest. It
was an early sign of the clashes coming between
artists, labels and retailers in the digital
age. Still, they got inducted into the UK Music
Hall of Fame as inaugural members in 2004. Then
came a new studio album, A Bigger Bang, 2005.
first in nearly eight years. Yeah, got good reviews
mostly. And it had that song Sweet Neocon, Mick
Jagger taking a direct shot at American neoconservatism.
Keith was worried about backlash. A little bit
initially, but he backed Mick's lyrics, showed
they weren't afraid to be political, even if
it might annoy some people. And the tour for
A Bigger Bang just broke all the records, didn't
it? Completely smashed them. 2005 to 2007 grossed
over half a billion dollars. $558 million. Guinness
World Records for the highest grossing tour ever
at that point. Included the Super Bowl halftime
show in 2006 too. And that Rio concert on Copacabana
Beach. over a million people. Just staggering,
the logistics alone. They needed this incredibly
complex sound system with relay towers stretching
2 .5 kilometers down the beach just so everyone
could hear the music in sync. Mind -blowing scale.
But even during this massive success, there were
personal struggles. Keith's fall. Yeah, fell
out of a tree in Fiji. Needed cranial surgery.
A real scare. And Ronnie Wood went into rehab
for alcohol around the same time. Reminders that
even rock gods are human, facing real battles.
Martin Scorsese captured some of this era's live
energy in his documentary Shine a Light in 2008.
Moving towards the 50th anniversary, big changes
behind the scenes again. Management? Yep. Prince
Rupert Lowenstein, their manager for 40 years,
stepped down in 2010. Apparently he suggested
they wind things down, sell assets, and they
weren't having it. Joy Smith, their longtime
lawyer, took over. Still manages them today,
won awards for it, shows they were still focused
on the business side. And Exile on Mainstain,
hitting number one again in 2010. 38 years later.
Unbelievable, isn't it? Just proves the timelessness
of that album, reaching a whole new generation.
The 50th anniversary in 2012 was a big celebration.
The huge new book, The Rolling Stones, 50, new
logo variation by Shepard Fairey, the documentary
Crossfire Hurricane, and a new compilation, GRRR,
with two brand new tracks, Doom and Gloom, and
One More Shot. Still creating. And the 15 counting
tour had loads of guest stars. Yeah, it was like
a victory lap with friends. Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton,
Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift. A real mix
of legends and contemporary stars showed their
reach across generations. The return to Hyde
Park in 2013 must have been emotional. Hugely.
First time playing there since the Brian Jones
tribute in 69. Mick Taylor even guested. A real
full circle moment. And Mick Jagger around 2015
just flat out said, I'm not thinking about retirement.
I'm planning the next set of tours. Just relentless.
And they proved it with that historic Cuba concert
in 2016. The Havana Moon concert. Free show,
estimated half a million people, a massive cultural
event, first big western rock band to play there
like that, huge deal. Same here, they go back
to their roots with Blue and Lonesome. Yeah,
fantastic blues covers album, raw, authentic,
Eric Clapton played on a couple of tracks, went
straight to number one in the UK, showed they
could still top the charts just playing the music
they first fell in love with. And even in the
last few years, still making news. New music,
but also a huge loss. The pandemic hit, obviously,
postponed the no filter tour, but they released
Living in a Ghost Town in April 2020, finished
it in isolation. It actually went to number one
in Germany, made them the oldest artists ever
to top the German singles chart. That's incredible.
And they set another record in 2020. With the
goats head soup reissue, yeah. Made them the
first artists ever to have a number one album
in the UK across six different decades. Six decades.
Just think about that. mind -boggling longevity.
But then, 2021 brought the devastating news about
Charlie Watts. Yeah, passing away at 80. Such
a huge loss. The bedrock, the quiet engine of
the band for nearly 60 years. Stephen Jordan,
who'd worked with Qube before, stepped in on
drums. The band paid tribute to Charlie every
single night on tour. But even with that loss,
they were still the highest earning live act
of 2021. Which brings us almost up to date with
Hackney Diamonds in 2023, their first album of
new original songs in ages. And what an album.
Really strong reviews. It features the last two
tracks Charlie ever recorded with them, which
is incredibly poignant. And Bill Wyman came back
to play bass on one track after 30 years away.
And look at the guests, Paul McCartney, Elton
John, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder. Just incredible.
The single Angry with Sydney Sweeney in the video
got huge buzz. They can still command attention
like nobody else. And they're already talking
about more. Seems like it. Jagger hinted a follow
up might be mostly done. Ronnie Wood confirmed
plans for more music, more touring in 2025. They
just don't stop. OK, act five. Let's try and
unpack why. Why do they matter so much? What's
the fabric of their sound, their impact, that
ancient art of weaving thing Keith talks about?
Right. Musically, their genius is partly that
ability to just soak up everything blues, R &B,
country, psychedelia, reggae, dance, world music,
and make it sound like the Stones. Brian Jones
was key early on with the sitar, dulcimer, bringing
in those textures. They basically defined hard
rock, didn't they? That gritty blues -based sound.
Yeah, but always with that swing. That Wyman
-Watts rhythm section was crucial, strong, but
subtle with that kind of loose feel. Driven by
their influences Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and
Charlie Watts' jazz background. Exactly. Watts
wasn't a typical rock drummer. That jazz sensibility
gave them a unique groove. And then you have
the guitars, Richard's ancient art of weaving.
Explain that a bit more. It's not just lead and
rhythm. No, it's more like two guitars talking
to each other, intertwining. Richards often sets
the rhythm and the other guitar weaves around
it. sometimes it's hard to tell who's playing
what, creates this dense rhythmic tapestry, very
distinctive, and often the band follows Keith's
guitar rhythm more than the drums, which is unusual.
And Keith's use of open tunings is key to that
sound. Absolutely fundamental. Open E, open D,
but especially that five string open G tuning,
taking off the bottom string, tuning the rest
G, D, G, B, D. It gives you that thick, resonant,
slightly dirty chord sound you hear on Honky
Tonk Women, Brown Sugar, Start Me Up, countless
others. It's his sound. And the studio was pretty
fluid, too, people swapping instruments. Yeah,
they weren't rigid about roles. Best musicians
popping in, band members maybe playing different
things, kept it fresh, layered. And through it
all, you have Jagger, the template for the rock
frontman, charismatic, provocative. He just changed
the game. And that Jagger Richards dynamic, controlled
madness. That's Keith's phrase for it. Mick is
the controller, and I'm the madness. that tension,
that push and pull between them. Maybe that's
the secret sauce right there. It fuels the creativity
even when it gets rough. Beyond the studio, their
live shows became legendary spectacles. How did
that evolve? Well, they went from tiny clubs
where Jagger could barely move to halls, then
arenas, then just massive stadiums. That 1969
US tour was pivotal. Jagger called it a watershed
because that's when they figured out how to properly
amplify and light shows for huge venues. They
basically invented Arena Rock logistics. Making
sure everyone could see and hear. Exactly. And
the stages got more and more elaborate, giant
mirrors in 72, the Lotus stage that opened up
in 75, inflatable props, circus tricks even.
Huh. Inflatable penises. They weren't subtle.
Not always. Then the huge stadium designs in
the 80s with runways, moving sections, big screens,
all designed to connect with those massive crowds.
Charlie Watts had that great quote about needing
gimmicks so they didn't just look like ants on
stage. Perfectly put. Fireworks, lights, theater.
It became part of the experience bridging that
physical distance and huge stadium. And the Rio
show pushed that to the absolute limit. Yeah,
needing relay speakers down a 2 .5 kilometer
beach just to keep the sound in sync for a million
people. That's just incredible technical ambition
driven by their massive appeal. So pulling it
all together, their enduring legacy, why do they
still resonate? Well, the longevity itself is
astounding. Nobody survives like the world's
greatest rock and roll band, as one critic said.
The sales figures are insane. Over 250 million
albums, most top 10 albums ever in the U .S.
for any artist. Fourth bestselling group ever
in the U .K. Just huge numbers, sustained over
decades. But it's more than sales, right? They
change culture. Definitely. They were in the
vanguard, bringing black American music blues
R &B to a massive global white audience in a
new way. Muddy Waters himself said his record
sales went up after the Stones hit. They helped
America rediscover its own roots in a way. And
they stood up for things early on. Civil rights?
Yeah, refusing to play segregated venues back
in the 60s, writing it into contracts. That rebellious
image often had a progressive edge. Rolling Stone
magazine called them the great rock and roll
rhythm section of our time. High praise and deserved.
And Stephen Van Zand had that great point about
Jagger's vocals, that adult sex, conversational
quality, opening doors for singers who weren't
traditional crooners, made different kinds of
voices acceptable on pop radio. They were business
innovators too. Absolutely, changed the whole
model. Owning masters, their own label, pioneering
stadium tours, merchandising. They turned rock
and roll into a multi -billion dollar global
business. They wrote the playbook, really. And
that constant reinvention. Rich Cohen called
it five stylistic iterations. They just kept
changing. So many times that they might as well
be immortal, he wrote. From blues purists to
psychedelic hard rock disco. They absorbed it
all but always sounded like themselves. Dangerous
and vital even now. The awards, the accolades,
Hall of Fame, Grammys, even Fossils and a rock
on Mars named after them. Yeah, Rolling Stones
rock on Mars. The recognition is immense from
official honors like UK stamps and coins for
their 60th to quirky stuff like that. It shows
how deeply embedded they are in culture. And
that stat about topping the UK charts in six
different decades just speaks for itself. It
really does. Unprecedented. So from those kids
at Dartford station sharing a love for the blues
to just... global icons. They've navigated everything,
lineup changes, legal battles, internal wars,
changing tastes, and always come back to that
raw energy. It's an incredible story. Passion,
resilience, a fierce commitment to rock and roll,
and somehow it still connects generation after
generation. That authenticity maybe mixed with
that controlled madness just keeps defying the
odds. So as they're still making music, still
planning tours, what is it really? What allows
artists like the Stones to just defy age, defy
genres, stay so vital for 60 plus years. What
can we learn from their journey about collaboration,
about resilience, even when things get incredibly
tough, like World War III? It makes you think,
doesn't it? We definitely encourage you to dive
back into their music, go back to the start,
listen to the blues guys who inspired them, or
watch one of those amazing concert films, Shine
a Light, Gimme Shelter. With the Stones, there's
always more to discover, more layers to peel
back.