"I can't get no satisfaction…"

When it comes to the infamous trinity of “sex, drugs and rock and roll,” there are leaders and there are followers, and then there are the Rolling Stones – the original bad boys of rock music. They emerged at a time when the Beatles were singing pop love songs and were quick to demonstrate that the genre could handle a little more edge. And for close to half a century, that edge has provided an unheard of longevity in the business. Still recording, still touring the world, it would seem that there is no limit to heights they have been able to achieve. With 22 albums under their belt, 32 Top-10 singles, and an astounding eight consecutive albums to reach the #1 spot on the charts, their impact on the art form over the decades is unlikely to ever be matched.

Their humble beginnings were rooted in a love for American blues and R&B music. Guitarists Brian Jones and Keith Richard, pianist Ian Stewart, vocalist Mick Jagger, bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts began playing together in 1962. The following year, they were the house band at the Crawdaddy Club, just outside of London in the town of Richmond. Their local following grew steadily and they attracted the attention of two men, 19-year-old Andrew Oldham and Eric Easton, who would become their managers. Oldham helped the band develop a persona that it would carry with them throughout their careers, as the rough and sexually dangerous alternative to the innocent pretty-boy image that so many other bands had embraced. The formula worked.

Of course, this image wouldn’t have been worth much if the boys didn’t have the talent to back it up. But they quickly proved the ability to score minor hits, mostly of covers of music by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. Then, in 1963, they got a little help from their friends, those loveable lads from Liverpool, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who reworked one of their songs for the Stones to use. The track, “I Wanna Be Your Man” became a Top-20 hit, their biggest to date, and soon after, the Stones were competing with The Beatles around the UK for the title of most popular band.

They scored another hit with a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” which made it to #3 on the British charts and started generating attention across the Atlantic. Their first foray on American shores wasn’t the success they would have hoped, but during their visit, they recorded a song called “It’s All Over Now” which would finally give them their first #1 hit in England. The next time they returned to America, in 1964, they were far more warmly embraced, appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show in front of gaggles of screaming fans. Richard and Jagger were also getting more proficient at writing their own songs. By the end of the year, they had released their first original single, “Heart of Stone,” which made it to #19 on the US charts.

The following year, they released three original singles that all made it to the #1 spot in England – “The Last Time,” “Get Off of My Cloud” and what would become their first massive international hit and, eventually, an anthem for an entire generation called “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” With it’s unforgettable fuzz guitar opening riff and driving beat, the song propelled the band into superstar territory. When 1966 arrived, the band released their first album of all original material called Aftermath. With songs such as “Under My Thumb” and the exotic sounding “Paint it Black,” the days of being a cover band were officially over.

As their popularity grew, so did their reputation as bad boys of rock and roll. Many of their songs were laced with subtle references to drug use, such as “Mother’s Little Helper” and, as a result, law enforcement began taking notice. Shortly after the release of the singles “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday,” police rounded up Jagger, Jones and Richards on various drug charges and the penalties were stiff. It was only the enormous public outcry for leniency that saved their hides and kept them out of the pokey. The grateful band responded to this public affection with the release of “We Love You” in 1967. After all, it was the Summer of Love, wasn’t it?

This same year, their old rivals, The Beatles, had concocted an astounding concept album called Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the Stones did their best to answer in kind with Her Satanic Majesty’s Secret Request, which received a very favorable response of its own. A great album, to be certain, but the Stones were slowly drifting from their edgier roots. It was time to get back to basics, and they did so with a vengeance in their next release, Beggar’s Banquet. There was nothing lofty or surreal about this album, it was hard rocking fun right out of the gate, as could be heard in the first single released, the hard-hitting “Jumping Jack Flash.” Also included was one of their most controversial offerings to date, the deliciously dark “Sympathy for the Devil”, a hypnotic epic driven by a percussive samba that branded the band as satanic worshippers, as if they needed to further bolster their image as bad boys.

It had been a long road for the Stones, but as the decade came to a close, they were finally getting past some of their earlier problems, with the exception of Brian Jones. Unable to continue, he quite the band and was found a short time later, having drowned in his pool. He was soon replaced by guitarist Mick Jones, from the band Faces. Although the new lineup was warmly received by a massive crowd attending a free concert at London’s Hyde Park, and although the Stones would soon embark on an extremely successful US tour, another tragedy would befall the band before years end. The final show of the tour was held at Altamont Speedway in Northern California and the Stones made the ill-fated decision to hire the Hell’s Angels biker gang to provide their security. Tensions rose at the venue throughout the scorching summer day, fueled by drug and alcohol abuse, and while the band was performing “Paint it Black” onstage, a member of the crowd named Meredith Hunter pulled a gun and was stabbed to death by a member of the Hell’s Angels. All of the mayhem was captured in the filmed documentary of the event called Gimme Shelter and the incident marked a tragic end to the peace-loving days of the 60s.

The Rolling Stones persevered, releasing album after album of new material. Let it Bleed would mark their last album of the decade - featuring such hits as “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Midnight Rambler.” And the 1971 release of Sticky Fingers would mark the arrival of the next era – a fantastic offering of diverse material from the country-tinged “Wild Horses” to the hard-hitting “Brown Sugar,” an ode to interracial couples. This would be the first of 8 consecutive albums to achieve #1 Status.  The next was Exile From Main Street, an ambitious double album that some consider their best material, followed by Goat’s Head Soup in 1973, which contained the #1 ballad, “Angie,” and It’s Only Rock and Roll in 1974. These were prolific days for the band, but one member had reached the end of his journey with the Stones, as Mick Taylor decided to quit the band. After trying out numerous replacements, guitarist Ron Wood got the coveted gig, just in time for the next album, 1976’s Black and Blue.

Although these albums all sold quite well, critics weren’t always so polite towards the band, wondering if they were losing their edge. Jagger and Richard seemingly erased all doubts with Some Girls. Released in 1978, it proved that the Stones weren’t afraid to stand up in an era of disco and punk. They scored a huge danceable hit of their own with the song, “Miss You” and proved they weren’t ready to throw in the towel anytime soon. They followed up with Emotional Rescue in 1980, which scored another hit from the title track. And then came 1981 and Tattoo You. It had been a while since the Stones had achieved anything close to the anthem material of earlier decades, but they hit gold with a catchy little tune called “Start Me Up” that would serve as one of their biggest crowd pleasers for years after.

The band released two more albums in the 80s, Undercover in 1983 and Dirty Work in 1986. Both did respectable sales but it was clear that the band was focusing more of its energy on individual projects. Jagger worked on his solo album, She’s The Boss and recorded a cover of “Dancing In The Street” with David Bowie, and rumors began to surface that perhaps the days of the “world’s greatest rock and roll band” were numbered.  1989 put an end to the rumors with the release of Steel Wheels and a massive tour to support the album. Fans breathed a collective sigh of relief. The tour was documented in a live album called Flashpoint and marked the beginning of a pattern for the band – release and album, tour extensively, release a live album, rinse and repeat. They followed their 1994 release Voodoo Lounge with a recording at an intimate acoustic club setting called Stripped and, likewise, followed their 1997 album Bridges to Babylon with another live offering called No Security the following year. With each new release, the tours got bigger, packing the largest venues that could hold them night after night. Almost four decades after their introduction into the world of rock and roll, the Rolling Stones were still packing them in with ease.

As the new century rolled around, the band released a greatest hits compilation in 2002 called 40 Licks, which went to #2 on the charts, both in Britain and in the US and sold more than 7 million copies. 2005 marked their first studio album in eight years, A Bigger Bang, which, of course, was followed by a massive world tour that eventually earned an astounding $437 million in revenue for the band, a world record. Martin Scorsese directed a live concert film in 2006. Called Shine a Light, it was eventually released two years later in 2008. And that may not be all she wrote - Richard has hinted that a new studio album may follow, once the band is done promoting the film.

Sure, you can look at The Beatles as one of the most prolific bands of all time, and sure you can look at The Who as achieving their own longevity and notoriety. But when it comes to a true rock and roll band, it would be hard to find one that comes close to achieving what the Rolling Stones have done in almost a half-century of writing, recording and touring together. The numbers are staggering and success unrivaled. They are the epitome of rock and roll and their legacy is one that truly astounds.