by KD1234

Created on: July 21, 2010

Paul McCartney and the disbanded Beatles aside, The Rolling Stones have been a constantly touring, album-releasing Rock 'n Roll behemoth of the last 45-plus musical years.  Are they too old to perform at their peak? Perhaps. Are they still culturally relevant to Rock 'n Roll? You'd better believe it! Their name coined by Brian Jones in the early 1960's after the Muddy Waters blues staple "Rollin' Stone", The Rolling Stones have weathered almost 50 years of being a Rock Band. That's not to mention all the changing trends, culture, technology, marriages, divorces, deaths of band members, lawsuits and the innumerable live shows the band has done since their inception in early 1962.

 
Soaked in authentic Rhythm & Blues, their first album "The Rolling Stones" was a groundbreaking debut that went on to be one of the biggest sellers in the UK upon it's release in 1964. Flash forward to the band's most recent release, 2005's "A Bigger Bang", a contemporary, hard rocking album that was ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as the second-best album in the year of it's release. The band not only sounds amazing in their current day incarnation, but they continue to push the boundaries of pop, rock, blues and society, with Mick Jagger taking up playing the bass for the first time in his career on "A Bigger Bang", but also making massively controversial political statements in such songs as "Sweet Neo Con", with it's harsh criticism of American politics and in particular George W. Bush. All this from a band who's front-man is fast approaching 70 years old.
 
Running the gamut from the initial Rhythm & Blues leanings of their first self-titled opus,groundbreaking experimentation and psychedelia of Satanic Majesties in the late 60's, the worldwide success and excess of the arena rocking Sticky Fingers and Exhile on Main St. in the early 70's, right through their 80's pop and more recent guitar oriented blues and pop-rock outings, The Rolling Stones have barely set a foot wrong in their musical career that has lasted almost half a century. 

Their fresh young faces may now be weathered, their once cocky attitudes wiser and slightly tired. The question remains; Are the Rolling Stones too old to tour the world and strut their stuff on a stage designed for younger, fitter men? Perhaps. Too old to Rock & Roll? Never. Who knows how long they'll keep on rolling?

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