Shows: 1857
Earliest: Jul 12, 1962
Latest: Jul 8, 2026
[
WikiPedia] The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, they pioneered the gritty, rhythmically driven sound that came to define hard rock. Rooted in blues and rock and roll, the Stones were at the forefront of the British Invasion. Their first stable line-up consisted of multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, vocalist Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts, after keyboardist Ian Stewart was sidelined by manager Andrew Loog Oldham (though Stewart was retained as the band's road manager and session/touring keyboardist until his death in 1985). Jones was the leader in their early years, and named the band after a Muddy Waters song. Oldham encouraged them to write their own songs, and the Jagger–Richards partnership soon became the band's primary creative force.
They found success with their own compositions: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", "Get Off of My Cloud" (both 1965) and "Paint It Black" (1966) became international number-one hits. Aftermath (1966) was their first album of entirely original material. In 1967, they had the double-sided hit "Ruby Tuesday"/"Let's Spend the Night Together" and experimented with psychedelia on Their Satanic Majesties Request. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1968) and "Honky Tonk Women" (1969) topped UK and US charts. They returned to their roots (grafted with folk and country) on Beggars Banquet (1968), featuring "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" and Let It Bleed (1969), featuring "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want".
Jones left the band a few weeks before his death in 1969, and was replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor. That year, they were introduced on stage for the first time as "the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World". In 1970, they formed Rolling Stones Records, for which their famous tongue and lips logo was created. Sticky Fingers (1971), their first album on the label, yielded "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses" and was their first of eight consecutive number-one studio albums in the US. It was followed by Exile on Main St. (1972), featuring "Tumbling Dice" and "Happy", and Goats Head Soup (1973), featuring "Angie". Taylor left the band at the end of 1974 and was replaced by Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood.
Some Girls (1978) showed the influence of punk and disco with "Miss You", "Beast of Burden", and "Shattered". Tattoo You (1981) produced "Start Me Up". Steel Wheels (1989) and Voodoo Lounge (1994) were promoted by large tours. Following Wyman's departure in 1993, the band continued as a four-piece core, with Darryl Jones becoming their bassist, releasing Bridges to Babylon (1997) and A Bigger Bang (2005). By 2007, they had broken the record for the all-time highest-grossing concert tour three times, and they were the highest-earning live act of 2021, with Steve Jordan becoming their regular drummer following Watts' death that year. Hackney Diamonds (2023) became their fourteenth UK number-one album. Foreign Tongues (2026) was their fifteenth.
The Rolling Stones have estimated album sales of more than 250 million. They have won four Grammys and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Billboard and Rolling Stone have ranked them as one of the greatest artists of all time.
