It was the summer of 1962.
The world had just been introduced to the musical marvel that was “Mick Jagger and the Rollin’ Stones,” and nothing would ever be the same again. Six members, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Mick Avory, and Dick Taylor, took the stage at a basement club in London and never looked back.
Over six decades later, some of those names are still plastered on billboards across the globe. The grandchildren of fans who witnessed The Rolling Stones in their early years are now heading out to see Mick Jagger don his signature leather pants and leave it all on stage, only this time, for a sum far greater than what “Mick Jagger and the Rollin’ Stones” once earned.
Let’s revisit The Rolling Stones’ first gig and latest performance to see just how far they’ve come, both financially and as rock legends.
THE ROLLING STONES’ FIRST GIG
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were both 18 and still lived with their parents when they played their first gig at The Marquee Club in London on July 12, 1962. Jagger was a student at the London School of Economics at the time, and he and Richards knew each other from high school.
An audience of around 110 people waited for the band, who had limited rehearsal time, to sing their first rhythm-and-blues tune. The crowd wasn’t quick to cheer for Mick Jagger and the Rollin’ Stones, and there were some disapproving “catcalls.” But by the end of their 50-minute set, which included a Chuck Berry cover and closed with Elmore James’s “Happy Home,” they had converted a few viewers into fans.
Taylor wrote a diary entry about the night, noting that the last 15 minutes of their performance were electric. Longtime Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts was also in the audience, though not yet a member of the band at their debut.
According to The Guardian, they were paid “30-guineas,” which is roughly $40 to $42 USD, intended to be split evenly between them (though Jagger received a bit more than his bandmates). Afterwards, they headed to The Tottenham Pub to celebrate what was, unbeknownst to them, the first of a lifetime of iconic performances.
THE ROLLING STONES’ LATEST SHOW
The lineup evolved after their first gig: Taylor and Avory left the band, Jones passed away, and Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood joined. Jagger, Richards, Wyman, and Wood toured the world’s biggest stages for decades before Wyman departed in 1993. Watts passed away in 2021, leaving Jagger, Richards, and Wood to keep the music going.
According to Rolling Stone, the band’s last full concert was in July 2024, the final show of their Hackney Diamonds tour. The set list featured classic tracks like “Gimme Shelter,” “Paint It Black,” “Start Me Up,” andHackney Diamonds’ “Mess It Up” and “Whole Wide World.”
The band grossed over $235 million for the entire tour, averaging roughly $11.75 million per show; a far cry from the $40 they received after their very first gig!
MICK JAGGER IN HIS 80s
In 1972, Dick Cavett of The Dick Cavett Show asked Mick Jagger, then in his late 20s, if he could picture himself performing in his sixties, to which the sensation replied: “Yeah, easily,” joking that he might be in need of a cane by then.
Jagger was 81 during The Rolling Stones’ final show, and it was completed without a cane, with the star running around the stage, dancing as if no time had passed.
More About The Rolling Stones:
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.mentalfloss.com ’
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