Few rock bands have been as enduring as The Rolling Stones. They continue to wow audiences decades after they first took up musical arms together. A timeline of their career is a covetable map for any burgeoning rock star to follow.
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From their formation in the ’60s to their impending album, Hackney Diamonds, trek through the Stones’ road to success, below.
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Early Days
The Stones’ sprawling career started in the early ’60s when a young Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met on a train platform. Their love of blues music immediately connected the pair. “You know I was keen on Chuck Berry and I thought I was the only fan for miles but one mornin’ on Dartford Stn, I was holding one of Chuck’s records when a guy I knew at primary school 7-11 yrs came up to me,” Keith Richards wrote in a letter describing their meeting.
Like many burgeoning bandmates, their mutual influences were enough to forge a friendship that would later develop into a songwriting partnership. The pair formed a fledgling group, the Blues Boys, alongside Dick Taylor, Alan Etherington, and Bob Beckwith.
The Blues Boys collided with another outfit, Blues Incorporated, in 1962. That group included future Stones members Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, and Charlie Watts.
Though Watts would eventually join the outfit, the original Stones lineup included Jagger, Richards, Jones, Stewart, and Taylor. The name was chosen by happenstance when Jones saw a Muddy Waters album lying on the floor. Read more on how Waters inspired their band name, HERE.
Becoming Major Rockers
The classic lineup of the group—Jagger, Richards, Jones, Wyman, and Watts—played their first show as a unit on January 12, 1963. Though it was an intimate show at the Ealing Jazz Club, it kick-started an enduring career in rock ‘n’ roll.
The early days of the band’s career saw them focusing on covers of songs by American blues heavyweights. It wasn’t until 1964 that Jagger and Richards began to flex their songwriting chops (more on that below). Despite not having original songs, the band began to amass a following.
They originally went with a look borrowed from The Beatles, but a clean-cut appearance didn’t do much for them. When they took the opposite approach—i.e. the rowdy bad boy look—they started to carve out a unique space in the industry.
Writing Their Own Songs
Jagger and Richards brought the band to new heights when they decided to forge their own Paul McCartney/John Lennon-type partnership in the mid-60s.
In 1965, they scored their first UK No. 1 with an original composition, “The Last Time.” It gave them the confidence to continue penning hits for the group.
“Mick and I knew by now that really our job was to write songs for the Stones,” Richards once said. “It took us eight, nine months before we came up with ‘The Last Time,’ which is the first one that we felt we could give to the rest of the guys without being sent out of the room.”
Soon after, they would score their first international No. 1 with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Between 1965 and ’67 alone, the partnership produced the timeless hits “Paint It, Black,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” and more.
Jones’ Death and Altamont
1969 was a formidable year for the Stones.
Tragedy struck the band when Jones passed away after drowning in his swimming pool. Prior to that incident, Jones left the band because of his worsening drug problem. He was ultimately replaced by Mick Taylor.
In December of that same year, the band decided to play a free concert at the Altamont Speedway. It would go on to become one of the most infamous rock concerts of all time after a woman was stabbed to death by the show’s security—the Hells Angels.
Safe to say by the end of the ’60s, the Stones had ushered in a new era of rock ‘n’ roll—one that was less focused on the peace and love that characterized the last decade.
Hits after Hits and Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame
By the end of the ’70s, the band had tapped a new guitarist (Ronnie Wood) and hit a commercial success stride. The group earned hit after hit including “I Miss You,” “Beast of Burden,” “Start Me Up,” and more.
In 1989, the group (including Mick Taylor, Ronnie Wood, Brian Jones, and Ian Stewart) was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for their imitable contributions to the genre.
Today
The last few decades of the Stones’ career have been characterized by sprawling tours. Two of their treks—The No Filter Tour and A Bigger Bang Tour—smashed records. Though their record for the highest-grossing tour has since been broken by a number of artists, their feat remains nonetheless impressive.
On top of their tours, the band has continued sharing music. Their latest album, Hackney Diamonds, will arrive on October 20. Check out one of the pre-released tracks, below.
(Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)
