The Rolling Stones have hit a big milestone. The enduring rock band is now officially 60 years old.
On July 12th, 1962, The Rolling Stones performed their first paid gig, at the Marquee Club in London. They were then billed as The Rollin' Stones (with no G in Rolling), and they did a 14-song set of mostly R&B covers, including "Kansas City," "Back in the U.S.A.," "Bright Lights, Big City" and "Confessin' the Blues."
Neither Charlie Watts nor Bill Wyman had joined at that time. Ian Stewart played keyboards and Dick Taylor was on bass, along with, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones. It's not clear who played drums.
From his 2010 autobiography Life, Keith said it was actually future Kinks drummer Mick Avory playing that night, though Avory denies it. Most likely it was Tony Chapman, who played with them in 1962 and 1963.
Keith Richards once commented on The Rolling Stones’ longevity, saying, "Nobody ever expected anything like this, I mean, especially in those days a band, it was lucky to live two or three years and you hoped for a good time and that was that, you know."
The Stones, who are on their Sixty tour, marked the special day with posts on their socials. Long live The Rolling Stones.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]