The Rolling Stones are widely recognized as one of the most influential rock n’ roll bands of all time. They have become the favorite band of generations and generations of fans who love rock n’roll music, from grandparents to parents to their kids, and even in some cases their children! It’s amazing how music can speak to all kinds of age groups, no matter how old it is.
The Rolling Stones are a British rock band that was formed during the early 1960s. The band we know today consists of four members, but the original line-up was made up of six members in total – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart and Charlie Watts. Jagger and Richards have almost always been known as the anchors of the band, as they are the chief songwriters and faces of the band, and really lend a lot of personality and spunk to the group. The band first became popular in their native Europe, but as rock n’roll music spread across the world, particularly British groups, they gained mass popularity in the United States as well. The band has released a whopping, unbelievable 22 albums in total, with over 200 million copies sold worldwide – and they continue to produce new music! Their last new studio album with brand new, previously unreleased content was A Bigger Bang, released in 2005.
When the Rolling Stones first came out, they were marketed and sold to listeners as the antithesis of the Beatles, in an effort to set themselves apart from the equally, if not more popular group who were also British and played rock music. They wanted to be seen as the wilder, crazier and more independent band, as if the Beatles were a more manufactured pop group than anything else. The bands manager also got rid of Ian Stewart as a member of the group, because he felt his image did not fit the Rolling Stones look. While the Stones originally recorded others’ songs in an effort to impress fans and garner popularity, it wasn’t until they began singing, playing and recording their own original material that they really took off.
The Rolling Stones’ first big song was ‘Satisfaction’, which spent a month at the top of the music charts, establishing them as a serious act with great music. They continued to release chart-topping hits and establish themselves as one of the greatest rock acts, touring around the world and releasing records throughout the 1960s. They also cemented their rebellious, bad boy image with incidents of drug use, overdoses, hard partying and arrests wherever they went. They also had their fair pick of beautiful women, as women of all ages and nationalities wanted a piece of this famous, good looking rock band. In 1969, one of the main members who had been a large part of the band since the beginning, Brian Jones, drowned in his pool. They played a free concert in his memory.For the past nearly 50 years, the Rolling Stones have been a huge influence on rock n’ roll music and popular culture.