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From Sunday Times bestselling author Lesley-Ann Jones
On 12 July 1962, the Rollin' Stones performed their first-ever gig at London's Marquee jazz club. Down the line, a 'g' was added, a spark was lit and their destiny was sealed. No going back.
These five white British kids set out to play the music of black America. They honed a style that bled bluesy undertones into dark insinuations of women, sex and drugs. Denounced as 'corruptors of youth' and 'messengers of the devil', they created some of the most thrilling music ever recorded.
Now, their sound and attitude seem louder and more influential than ever. Elvis is dead and the Beatles are over, but Jagger and Richards bestride the world. The Stones may be gathering moss, but on they roll.
Yet how did the ultimate anti-establishment misfits become the global brand we know today? Who were the casualties, and what are the forgotten legacies? Can the artist ever be truly divisible from the art?
Lesley-Ann Jones's new history tracks this contradictory, disturbing, granitic and unstoppable band through hope, glory and exile, into the juggernaut years and beyond into rock's ongoing reckoning . . . where the Stones seem more at odds than ever with the values and heritage against which they have always rebelled.
Good, bad and often ugly, here are the Rolling Stones as never before.
About the author
Lesley-Ann Jones is an acclaimed biographer, novelist, broadcaster and keynote speaker. She honed her craft on Fleet Street, as a newspaper journalist. She is the bestselling author of
Fly Away Paul: How McCartney Survived the Beatles, Found his Wings and Became a Solo Superstar;
Who Killed John Lennon?: The Lives and Loves of the Greatest Rock Star;
The Stone Age: Sixty Years of the Rolling Stones;
Bohemian Rhapsody: The Definitive Biography of Freddie Mercury and
Hero: David Bowie. A childhood friend of David Bowie, Lesley-Ann has interviewed many of the
world's best-loved artists, including Paul McCartney, Madonna and Prince, often
forming lifelong friendships with her subjects.
