The Rolling Stones, rock music group whose worldwide popularity has rivaled that of the Beatles and other legendary bands. Both were British groups that became pop culture icons in the 1960s, but while the Beatles broke up at the end of that decade, the Rolling Stones have remained a unit well into the 21^st century.

The Rolling Stones were formed in 1962 by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman. Jones died in 1969, and Mick Taylor replaced him. In 1975 Ron Wood took Taylor’s place. Wyman left the band in 1992, but the rest of the lineup has stayed basically intact, making the Stones one of the most enduring rock groups in history.

The group is known for its rough, raucous sound that is heavily influenced by American blues and rhythm-and-blues music. This sound and the band's irreverent performances contrasted with the softer style of the Beatles, and the Stones soon attracted a large following in both England and the United States. Such singles as “Time Is on My Side” (1964), “Little Red Rooster” (1964, a traditional blues song deemed too sexually explicit for release in the United States), “Satisfaction” (1965), “Mother's Little Helper” (1966), “Paint It Black” (1966), and “Ruby Tuesday” (1967) are typical of the group’s uninhibited style.

The band’s flamboyant performance style was captured in the motion picture Gimme Shelter (1970). Intended to document the group's popularity on its 1969 tour, the movie inadvertently recorded the killing of a spectator by members of the motorcycle gang Hell’s Angels, who had been hired to provide security at a free Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Racetrack in California.

The Rolling Stones' many albums include Out of Our Heads (1965), Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main Street (1972), Some Girls (1978), Undercover (1983), Steel Wheels (1989), Voodoo Lounge (1994), Bridges to Babylon (1997), No Security (live, 1998), Live Licks (2004), and A Bigger Bang (2005). Individual band members—particularly Jagger and Richards—have recorded solo albums over the years. The group continues to tour and perform widely.