The Rolling Stones, in contrast to the Beatles, always preferred the seedy side of rock and roll and was mostly responsible for the pioneering of hard rock which was a mix of blues based rock and roll. Mick Jagger’s guitar playing, his songs and his personality were the prototype of a rock singer and eventually what made him so famous. His streak of maliciousness added to the singer’s showmanship and ironically to his popularity. The Stones rebellious image was their main attraction to the teens whereas adults didn’t find them very appealing. In spite of their charm and charisma, and the immense popularity of Mick Jagger in particular, none of them could be called good looking which might be one reason why the Rolling Stones never embarked on a career in movies.  There were many that tried to ape them, but none could. Even to this day, no other band has   been able to collect such a huge fan base across the world while their influence can be seen in almost every rock band that emerged thereafter.
 

The Birth of the Band

The corner stones of the group were the two childhood friends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards who had met each other while studying in Kent, England. Though they parted for sometime the twosome met again when Jagger was playing in a blues band with a mutual friend called Dick Taylor. Richards too became a member of the band and it wasn’t long before Brian Jones a wild character at best joined them and with the advent of Charlie Watts on drums and Ian Stewart on piano “The Rolling Stones” were born. Their first album in their own  name   was released in 1964 and soon enough they were touring the country, making a name for themselves; but one that was quite the opposite to that of the Beatles who were regarded as a clean cut pop quartet. The Rolling Stones on the other hand thrived on their ‘bad boy’ image which was in a way responsible for their iconic image among impressionable teenagers and their eventual rise to fame.  

 

Problems with Drugs

The 60’s was an era that was synonymous with drug abuse and the Rolling Stones were well into the habit before long. Jones was becoming and unreliable during this time and had to be sacked and a replacement guitarist by the name of Mick Taylor took his place. Although the groups’ London Hyde Park concert in 1968 proved to be a huge success, Brian Jones’ death through an overdose and many other incidents thereafter unnerved the band and especially Keith Richards who was deeply shocked by Jones’ death.  Sadly enough, he too started taking drugs. It wasn’t long before internal friction started developing among band members although their musical career was not much effected because it was during this time they released their hit album “Exile on Main Street” which many consider to be one of their best classic albums. 

 

Jagger and his Celebrity Status

Jagger in the meanwhile was beginning to enjoy his celebrity status and was concentrating more on that rather than in music which was soon proving to be disappointing. Richards was getting into trouble with the law because of his drug problem and Taylor decided to quit the band because he felt he was not given enough recognition. In spite of all these troubles, the Rolling Stones still managed to come up with hits while Jagger pursued his celebrity lifestyle in the company of high profile movie stars and exotic models whereas Keith was more interested in music and ended up having more influence in the music scene than Jagger.

 

The Greatest Rock & Roll Band ever

Although the Rolling Stones were having a measure of success all this time, it wasn’t until their smash hit “I can’t get no satisfaction” was released in 1965 that they really became superstars. This was the song that signaled both Richards and Jagger as songwriters who had developed their own style of bluesy music and wry lyrics. This was the start of a string of songs such as “Get off my Cloud” “Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown” among others reaching the number one position for many years to come. Eventually however, some members left and others died and new members joined; but the legend of the Rolling Stones as the greatest Rock & Roll Band ever,  is one that’ll never fade away. How can it, when they were inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989?