First meeting at Wentworth Primary School, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger reunited years later, going on to form one of the most enduring rock bands of all time in The Rolling Stones. Just last year, the now-octogenarian rockers sold nearly 1 million tickets to their Hackney Diamonds Tour, generating $235 million. 60 years ago, however, the Stones took “electrifying” to a whole new level.
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Remember When The Rolling Stones Rode the Lightning?
In 1965, the Rolling Stones were at the height of their fame. Reaching No. 1 in the UK with their single “The Last Time,” the Brits were making significant inroads in the U.S. and all over the world. In March 1965, the band embarked on a tour of Scandinavia, with shows planned in Denmark and Sweden.
On this day in 1965 the Rolling Stones released 'The Last Time'. Here are Charlie and his fabulous Rolling Stones performing the song on the Ed Sullivan Show. pic.twitter.com/0XMuEPTq55
— Charlie Watts (@charlieboywatts) February 26, 2025
On March 26, 1965, the Stones took the stage for rehearsal ahead of a show at the Fyens Forum in Odense, Denmark. It’s unclear whether the cause was a faulty microphone or touching two live mics at the same time, but either way, Mick Jagger received an electric shock so powerful that it spun him around onstage. The Stones frontman subsequently collided with guitarist Brian Jones, who backed into bassist Bill Wyman. Wyman collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Fortunately, Wyman later came to, with the band’s promoter explaining that a shocked (literally) Jagger had unwittingly saved the bassist when he accidentally pulled out the main plug. All three recovered to play every show on the tour.
Keith Richards Was Spared—That Time
If you read all the above and thought to yourself, “Wait, how did Keith Richards get off so easy?” keep reading.
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Later that same year, in December, the Rolling Stones were playing a show at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California, when Richards bumped his guitar into a mic stand. While this is ordinarily not grounds for catastrophe, unbeknownst to the band, that particular mic stand was ungrounded. It caused an electrical surge that left Richards unconscious on the floor. And apparently, the sound so resembled gunfire that concert promoter Jeff Hughson thought that the guitarist had been the victim of an assassination attempt.
Richards would go on to recover, later calling the incident “my most spectacular moment” in his 2010 memoir Life.
Featured image by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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