Formed in 1962, the Rolling Stones’ breakthrough came in mid-1964 when their rendition of “It’s All Over Now” made #3 on the British charts. In June, they completed their initial US tour, which was, in Bill Wyman’s words, “a complete disaster.” Having no recognition there, the Stones were mocked in their behavior and image. Jagger and Richards started writing their own songs, but found that the blues duo was much harder than they expected. In May 1965, the Rolling Stones released their first international hit, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” which spent four weeks at the top of the US charts.
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“But suddenly popular music became bigger than it had ever been before. It became an important, perhaps the most important, art form of the period, after not at all being regarded as an art form before.”
- Mick Jagger (1973)
In 1971, The Rolling Stones launched their own record company, Rolling Stones Records for which they signed a distribution deal with Atlantic Records. Their image of the “boy band,” accompanied by wild behavior and drugs, became popular among the American youth; however , it spirled out of control when 1967, Richards, Jagger, and Jones were all charged with possession of drugs; Jones particularly spiraled out of control and was found dead two years later in his swimming pool.
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"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste. I've been around for a long, long year, stole many man's soul and faith."
- The Rolling Stones (1965)
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By the early 1970s, the Rolling Stones were a controversial group, banned from many countries and exiled from Britain in 1971 for not paying any of their taxes. The Stones fired their manager Allen Klein and Richards was arrested for heroin trafficking. They rolled along into the 80s, but members began to pursue solo careers due to creative differences; however, they realized they were stronger together and came back to release a new album and were instituted in the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1993, Bill Wyman announced his retirement, but the Stones kept touring in the new millennium and recently exceeded 50 years of rock and roll. |