How did Alexis Korner and the Ealing Blues Club influence musicians who formed the Rolling Stones?

Alexis Korner served as a foundational figure for the British rhythm and blues movement, acting as both a mentor and a catalyst for the musicians who would form the Rolling Stones.1

By opening the Ealing Blues Club in a London basement, Korner provided a vital venue for the development of the genre. Through his band, Blues Incorporated, he employed and inspired a generation of young artists, directly fostering the environment from which the Rolling Stones emerged.1

Crucially, Korner and his musical partner, Cyril Davies, introduced these young musicians to the sounds of Chicago urban electric blues, specifically the work of legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. This deep immersion in American blues was so profound that the Rolling Stones eventually took their name from a 1950 Muddy Waters song, "Rollin' Stone".23