The Rolling Stones are an English band whose music was initially based on rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Formed in London and having their first success in the UK, they subsequently became popular in the US during the "British Invasion" in the early 1960s.

The band formed in 1962 when original leader Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were joined by singer Mick Jagger as lead vocals and guitarist Keith Richards, whose songwriting partnership later contributed to their taking the leadership role in the group. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup. Ian Stewart was removed from the official lineup in 1963 but continued to work with the band as road manager and keyboardist until his death in 1985.

The band's early recordings were mainly covers of American blues and R&B songs. Their 1965 single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" established The Rolling Stones as a premier rock and roll act.Starting with their 1966 album Aftermath, the songs of Jagger and Richards, aided by the instrumental experimentation of Jones, expanded an always present stylistic flexibility. Jones died in 1969 shortly after being fired from the band and was replaced by Mick Taylor.Taylor recorded five albums with The Rolling Stones before quitting in 1974. Former Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood stepped in and has been with the band ever since. Wyman left the Rolling Stones in 1993; bassist Darryl Jones, who is not an official band member, has worked with the group since 1994.

The Rolling Stones have released 22 studio albums in the UK (24 in the US), eight concert albums (nine in the US) and numerous compilations;they have had 32 UK & US top-10 singles,43 UK & US top-10 albums from 1964 and 2008 and have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.1971's Sticky Fingers began a string of eight consecutive studio albums at number one in the United States. In 1989 The Rolling Stones were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 they were ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.They are also ranked as the number 2 artists of all time on Acclaimedmusic.net.Their latest studio album, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005 and followed by the highest-grossing tour in history, which lasted into late summer 2007. During the 1969 American tour, tour manager Sam Cutler introduced them as "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World". Their image of unkempt and surly youth is one that many musicians still emulate.

In the early 1950s Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were classmates at Wentworth Primary School in Dartford, Kent.They met again in 1960 while Richards was attending Sidcup Art College.Richards recalled, "I was still going to school, and he was going up to the London School of Economics... So I get on this train one morning, and there's Jagger and under his arm he has four or five albums... He's got Chuck Berry and Mhairi Paterson, Muddy Waters".With mutual friend Dick Taylor (later of Pretty Things), they formed the band Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.Stones founders Brian Jones and pianist Ian Stewart were active in the London R&B scene fostered by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner. Jagger and Richards met Jones while he was playing slide guitar sitting in with Korner's Blues Incorporated. Korner also had hired Jagger periodically and frequently future Stones drummer Charlie Watts.Their first rehearsal was organised by Jones and included Stewart, Jagger and Richards - the latter came along at Jagger's invitation. In June 1962 the lineup was: Jagger, Richards, Stewart, Jones, Taylor, and drummer Tony Chapman. Taylor then left the group. Jones named the band The Rollin' Stones, after the song "Rollin' Stone" by Muddy Waters.

The Rolling Stones are notable in modern popular music for assimilating various musical genres into their recording and performance; ultimately making the styles their very own. The band's career is marked by a continual reference and reliance on musical styles like American blues, country, folk, reggae, dance; world music exemplified by the Master Musicians of Jajouka; as well as traditional English styles that use stringed instrumentation like harps. The band cut their musical teeth by covering early rock and roll and blues songs, and have never stopped playing live or recording cover songs.