the Rolling Stones

Introduction & Top Questions
Formation and early music
First original hits: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Get Off of My Cloud”
Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St.
Lineup changes: From Some Girls to Steel Wheels
Documentaries and later music: Hackney Diamonds and Foreign Tongues
Honors

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Mick Jagger stands on stage at Madison Square Garden, holding a microphone aloft while performing under dramatic blue stage lights.

Ron Wood, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones perform on stage under blue lights at Ciudad Deportiva Sports Complex in Havana, Cuba.

Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones performs energetically on stage in a black and silver jacket, with a drummer and drum set visible in the background.

Mick Jagger wearing a black suit, patterned scarf, and bow tie, smiling while walking outdoors at the Palace of Versailles during the King Charles III State Visit to France.

Mick Jagger in 1964, wearing a dark coat and tie, standing outdoors beside a vehicle with an open door and a modern building in the background.

Mick Jagger, wearing a yellow jacket and red pants, performs energetically on stage while pointing toward the crowd during a 1978 Rolling Stones concert.

At a Glance

the Rolling Stones summary

Quizzes

Publicity still of Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock in 1957. (cinema, movies, motion pictures, film)

Rock Music and Rock ’n’ Roll

the Beatles. George Harrison. Publicity still from Let It Be (1970) directed by Michael Lindsay Hogg starring The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) a British musical quartet. film documentary rock music movie

Spotlight on Musical Groups

Close-up of an old sitar against a colorful background. (music, India)

(A Music) Man’s Best Friend

Related Questions

How did Alexis Korner and the Ealing Blues Club influence musicians who formed the Rolling Stones?
How did Andrew Loog Oldham influence the Rolling Stones’ decision to write their own songs?
How did Chicago blues influence the Rolling Stones’ early sound?
How did Keith Richards’s five-string open G tuning shape the Rolling Stones’ sound?
How did Mick Jagger and Keith Richards become a major rock songwriting team?
How did Mick Jagger’s stage movements contribute to the Rolling Stones’ live performances?
How did Ron Wood become a member of the Rolling Stones?
How did reggae influence the Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up”?
How did the Altamont tragedy affect public views of the Rolling Stones and the 1960s counterculture?
How did the Crawdaddy Club help launch the Rolling Stones’ career?
How did the Rolling Stones’ 1969 American tour change the business of rock concerts?
How did the Rolling Stones celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2012?
How did the Rolling Stones get their name from a Muddy Waters song?
How did the album Beggars Banquet expand the Rolling Stones’ musical style?
How long did “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” stay at number one on the Billboard Hot 100?
How were the Rolling Stones connected to the British Invasion of the United States?
What award did Blue & Lonesome win in 2018?
What modifications did Keith Richards make to his Fender Telecaster, Micawber?
When did Bill Wyman leave the Rolling Stones?
When was the Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers released?
When were the Rolling Stones inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Where did the Rolling Stones perform during their early years in West London?
Which Grammy Awards have the Rolling Stones won for their albums?
Which Rolling Stones albums are considered the band’s creative peak between 1968 and 1972?
Which Rolling Stones documentary records the Altamont concert and the band’s 1969 American tour?
Which Rolling Stones songs became their first top 10 hits in the United States?
Which Rolling Stones songs feature Keith Richards as the lead singer?
Which instruments did Brian Jones play on the album Aftermath?
Which songs from Sticky Fingers became well-known Rolling Stones recordings?
Who became the Rolling Stones’ drummer after Charlie Watts’s death?
Who performed bass on Rolling Stones tours after Bill Wyman retired?
Who replaced Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones after his death?
Why did Brian Jones become less influential in the Rolling Stones?
Why did “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” mark a return to the Rolling Stones’ blues-rock roots?
Why did the Rolling Stones briefly split up during the late 1980s?
Why did the Rolling Stones return to Chicago blues covers on Blue & Lonesome?
Why is Keith Richards known as “the Human Riff”?
Why was Brian Jones dismissed from the Rolling Stones in 1969?
Why was Hackney Diamonds significant in the Rolling Stones’ later career?
Why was Their Satanic Majesties Request different from the Rolling Stones’ usual music?
Who are the Rolling Stones?
Where did the Rolling Stones get their name?
How many number-one albums do the Rolling Stones have?
When did the Rolling Stones break up?
Have the Rolling Stones won any Grammys?
Who was Bob Weir?
Who were the members of The Doors?
Why were the Doors controversial?
How did Linkin Park get its name?
What was significant about Linkin Park’s debut album, Hybrid Theory?

Entertainment & Pop Culture Popular Music Genres Rock Music

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External Websites

Library of Congress - The Altamont festival
AllMusic - The Rolling Stones

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

the Rolling Stones - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

the Rolling Stones

British rock group

Written by

Charles Shaar Murray

Freelance Journalist. Author of Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and the Post-War Rock 'n' Roll Revolution and Boogie Man: The Adventures of John Lee Hooker in the American Twentieth Century.

Charles Shaar Murray

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 5, 2026 •History

No rock band has sustained consistent activity and global popularity for as long as the Rolling Stones, who, more than 60 years after their formation, are still capable of filling the largest stadiums in the world. Formed in England in 1962, the group drew on Chicago blues stylings to create a unique vision of the dark side of post-1960s counterculture. Though several of their mid-1960s contemporaries—notably Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, and Van Morrison—have...

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