BEST BANDS/ARTISTS OF THE 70s! 4th Seed - The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are a rock band formed in Dartford, Kent in 1962. The first settled line-up consisted of Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar), Bill Wyman (bass) and Charlie Watts (drums). Jones left the band less than a month prior to his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who left in 1975. Since then Ronnie Wood has been on guitar in tandem with Richards. Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued as occasional pianist until his death in 1985. Other notable keyboardists for the band have included Nicky Hopkins, active from 1967 to 1982; Billy Preston through the mid 1970s (most prominent on Black and Blue). The band was first led by Jones, but after teaming as the bands songwriters, Jagger and Richards assumed de facto leadership. The Rolling Stones were in the vanguard of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the US in 1964–65. They were instrumental in making blues a major part of rock and roll, and of changing the international focus of blues culture to the less sophisticated blues typified by Chess Records artists such as Muddy Waters, writer of Rollin Stone, the song after which the band is named. The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Rolling Stone magazine ranked No4 on the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list, and their estimated album sales are above 250 million. They have released twenty-nine studio albums, eighteen live albums and numerous compilations. Let It Bleed (1969) was their first of five consecutive No1 studio and Live albums in the UK. Sticky Fingers (1971) was the first of eight consecutive No1 studio albums in the US. In 2008 the band ranked 10th on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists chart. In 2012, the band celebrated their 50th anniversary.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 01:11:59 +0000