Musician Spotlight: The Rolling Stones

British rock group The Rolling Stones has been hailed as the greatest rock and roll band in the world, and whether or not that’s the truth, it is certainly the most long-lasting, having formed in the 1960s and still going strong today.

The group’s love of the blues style and its own unique vision that made it so special to so many combine effortlessly to create a kind of blues-rock fusion that, when you hear it, immediately brings The Rolling Stones to mind.

The Rolling Stones originally consisted of vocalist Mick Jagger (born 26th July 1943), guitarist Keith Richards (born 18th December 1943), guitarist and keyboard player Brian Jones (28th February 1942 – 3rd July 1969), bass player Bill Wyman (born 24th October 1936), and drummer Charlie Watts (born 2nd June 1941).

Later on, guitarist Mick Taylor (born 17th January 1948), guitarist Ron Wood (born 1st June 1947), and bass guitar player Darryl Jones (born 11th December 1961) also joined.

Initially, The Rolling Stones began when Jagger, Richards, Watts, and Jones started to play their style of Chicago blues music in the clubs and pubs around London. Their music was different and it didn’t always sit well with the listeners, although they did manage to find a small following who appreciated what they were doing.

Perhaps unintentionally at first, The Rolling Stones became the ‘anti-Beatles’, and once this became a more widespread idea, they certainly played on the fact. Whereas The Beatles all dressed alike, were clean-cut, came across polite and well-mannered, The Rolling Stones had a much more rebellious edge, sporting much longer hair, wearing whatever clothes they wanted, being loud and crass and exciting. It was something different altogether.

Watch this video to see what made them so unique:

At the start, The Stones covered a lot of old blues numbers from the 1950s, and certainly their first hit songs were written by other people. However, soon enough Mick Jagger and Keith Richards began to write their own songs, allowing them as much creative control as they wanted and ensuring that the band would have longevity.

This new songwriting collaboration resulted in some true classics including (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Paint It Black, Get Off My Cloud, Lady Jane, and 19th Nervous Breakdown. And despite a poorly received album (Their Satanic Majesties Request) in 1967 which couldn’t quite capture the hopeful mood of the time and was too dark for most people’s tastes, they were able to make a comeback with their next album, Beggars’ Banquet, which included 1968’s hugely popular Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

With a tour in 1969 that cemented The Stones as a performing band like no other, their future seemed secure despite the death of Brian Jones which actually helped increase the group’s popularity with more people listening to their music after the news broke and discovering that, in fact, they liked the sound they had ignored before.

In 2016, The Rolling Stones won a Grammy for their album Blue & Lonesome, which was the first time they had been back in the recording studio for 11 years, and which took them right back to their blues and jazz roots.

Other awards include a Grammy for 1994’s Voodoo Lounge album, a lifetime achievement award in 1987 (also a Grammy), and their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Learn more about them at the band’s official website.