October 7, 2016 The Rolling Stones play the first night of the Desert Trip festival, which also features Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and The Who. The six-day (split over two weekends) event rakes in $160 million, making it the highest-earning music festival ever.More
May 4, 2016 After Donald Trump's campaign plays "Start Me Up" following his victory speech celebrating his path to the Republican nomination, The Rolling Stones ask him to stop, joining several other artists in decrying his use of their songs.More
March 25, 2016 Two weeks after Major Lazer made history as the first US act to perform in Cuba since democratic relations eased between the two countries, The Rolling Stones play their first-ever Cuba gig, performing a free show for 1.2 million fans at Havana's Cuidad Deportiva. The Stones spend around $7 million to finance the trip, which follows President Obama's historic visit to the island.
April 24, 2007 US President George W. Bush is denied a luxury suite at the Imperial Hotel in Vienna when Mick Jagger, in town with The Rolling Stones on a tour, books it first.
April 8, 2006 The Rolling Stones play their first-ever concert in mainland China with a gig in Shanghai.
February 18, 2006 A week before Carnival, the Rolling Stones play a free concert to an estimated 1.5 million people at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.More
October 19, 2004 Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart are the lead performers on the Alfie soundtrack. Jagger sings lead on about one-third of the songs, including the first single "Old Habits Die Hard." Another version with Jagger, Stewart and Sheryl Crow is included as a bonus track.
July 30, 2003 When the disease SARS spreads to Toronto, it scares a lot of people away. To get visitors back, the city puts on a huge open-air concert featuring The Rolling Stones, The Guess Who, Rush, The Isley Brothers, The Flaming Lips and Justin Timberlake (who is jeered and has muffins thrown at him). About 450,000 people attend.More
February 18, 2003 The Rolling Stones bring some local flavor to the Australian leg of their Licks world tour, bringing Jet as the opening act. The first show in the country takes place at the Enmore Theater in Sydney. Jet had to fly back from Los Angeles, where they were recording their debut album, Get Born, to take advantage of the opportunity.
May 16, 1998 Keith Richards injures his ribs and chest when he falls from a chair at his Connecticut home; The Rolling Stones are forced to reschedule the first four dates of their upcoming tour while he recovers.
April 17, 1998 Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney's wife and Wings bandmate, dies at age 56 after a three-year battle with breast cancer.More
October 29, 1996 Axl Rose announces that Slash is no longer a member of Guns N' Roses. Slash forms Slash's Snakepit and Velvet Revolver, while Axl keeps GnR going with a variety of new faces.More
November 18, 1994 The Rolling Stones become the first major act to stream a live concert on the Internet, webcasting 20 minutes of their show at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. It's really for publicity to promote their upcoming pay-per-view concert, as very few computers can receive the webcast.
August 1, 1994 The Rolling Stones begin their Voodoo Lounge tour with a show in Washington, D.C. Their first tour without bass player Bill Wyman, it goes for 134 shows and finishes as the top-grossing tour of all time.
June 24, 1993 The California band Severe Tire Damage pull off the first webcast in history, live streaming a concert from the Xerox Research Center in Palo Alto to an extremely small audience. The next year, The Rolling Stones become the first major artist to do a webcast.
February 14, 1990 The Rolling Stones begin their first-ever tour of Japan at Tokyo's Korakuen Dome.
August 12, 1989 The Rolling Stones play a surprise set at the 700-capacity Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, 19 days before the official start of their Steel Wheels Tour.More
October 29, 1987 Rolling Stones guitarist and sometime painter Ron Wood gets his first public presentation, Decades, in London, featuring mostly portraits of Wood's famous friends over the past two decades.
March 24, 1986 The Rolling Stones release their album Dirty Work. The first single is a cover of the soul classic "Harlem Shuffle."
September 25, 1981 The Rolling Stones start their US tour with a concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, where they play to a crowd of 90,000. The tour is sponsored by musk maker Jovan, establishing a new paradigm for corporate involvement.More
August 24, 1981 The Rolling Stones release Tattoo You. The big hit from the album is "Start Me Up," which they first recorded with a reggae rhythm in 1977. That version was scrapped, but they rocked it up for Tattoo You with better results.
April 22, 1979 Keith Richards serves his punishment for a Toronto arrest on heroin charges when The Rolling Stones play the first of two concerts in Ontario to raise money for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, which is his court-ordered community service.
October 26, 1976 The Mothership, a lander that descends to the stage when the band play "Mothership Connection," appears for the first time during P-Funk's show at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans.More
June 4, 1975 The Rolling Stones become the first rock band to receive royalties for sales of their records in Russia.
April 14, 1974 On Easter Sunday, the concert documentary Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, premieres at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York. It's the first of its kind with quadraphonic sound, requiring a special system. It's a grand event, but Mick Jagger declares the film "boring."
September 27, 1973 The syndicated music show Don Kirshner's Rock Concert debuts with a performance by The Rolling Stones, making their first appearance on US television in six years. Fittingly, they play "It's Only Rock 'N' Roll."
December 4, 1971 During a Frank Zappa concert, the Montreux Casino in Switzerland catches fire when someone fires a flare gun, inspiring Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water." Deep Purple are there to record their album Machine Head the following day, but end up using the Grand Hotel and including the song as a last-minute addition.More
October 15, 1971 Rick Nelson (formerly Ricky) plays the "Rock & Roll Spectacular" concert at Madison Square Garden. When he plays some newer songs, the hit-hungry audience boos. Nelson writes the song "Garden Party" about the experience, and it becomes a hit, reviving his career.More
May 29, 1971 The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" hits the top of the Hot 100 for the first of two weeks.
May 22, 1971 The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album, with a working zipper on the cover, hits #1 in the US.More
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