(Credits: Far Out / Bent Rej)
Sun 7 September 2025 14:00, UK
God created the world in the space of six days, and on the seventh day, he created The Rolling Stones. Or, at least that’s what it feels like.Â
They’re a band who feel like they’ve been around since time began – not just as part of the furniture of rock and roll, but the very essence of its entire existence. As one of the leaders at the forefront of the British invasion, the Stones’ success is perhaps only paralleled by the likes of The Beatles in terms of iconic hits and cultural longevity. But in the case of both bands, this didn’t mean that the road was in any way easy or plain sailing.Â
If you were to put yourself in the shoes of The Rolling Stones, you might actually feel a little bit aggrieved that those pesky Fabs get all the credit for being the biggest band to ever walk the planet, when you weren’t that far behind to begin with, and have played the game for the long-run, which is better than what can be said for them. The Beatles only lasted seven years as a unit in total, whereas over 60 years down the line, Mick Jagger and Co are still going strong, so what exactly makes the difference?
It’s a well-known fact that the band have endured their fair share of rough patches over the years, so there have been many points where a permanent break-up could have been on the cards. But somehow, miraculously, the Stones have still made it through – having lost some old friends along the way, granted, but still with the old pulse of rock and roll beating from their heart. That ethos might just have involved being at each other’ throats on certain occasions.
But didn’t The Rolling Stones get into a huge fight before?
The fact is that although they’ve most definitely had their hairy moments, and probably sometimes wished they were never in a world-famous rock outfit together, the band’s core members of Jagger and Keith Richards, have always stuck by each other’s sides, very much through thick and thin. Despite years of fighting and brooding silences, it never tore their partnership apart.Â
Of course, there was a period where, to all intents and purposes, The Rolling Stones were essentially broken up in the eyes of the world. Over the five years from 1984 to 1989, Jagger and Richards frankly couldn’t stand the sight of each other, and they both set to work on their own solo outputs, with little sign that they would ever reunite. But even still, they insisted that the band weren’t split up – and despite their differences, they got back together in mid-1989 with the release of their now iconic record Steel Wheels.
So, if we are to entirely take their word for it, sure, the Stones have never officially broken up. They’ve had moments in which they’ve come close to it, as we have all witnessed, but the bond has never been fully fractured in all of over six decades. They certainly beat out The Beatles in that respect. Choosing an overall winner out of something so gargantuan as the British invasion may be hard, but at least The Rolling Stones have some salience in their case.
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