That leaves 45 ensuing years of gradually declining cultural relevance and, if we’re being honest, more mediocre music than good, and a seemingly ceaseless parade of product - compilation albums, concert films, live albums, and, recently, the traveling “Exhibitionism” display of band memorabilia. If you’re a fan of the Stones, it’s hard not to always compare them with their glorious 1968 to 1972 peak, when they fully assimilated all their blues, rock-and-roll, R&B, and country influences and turned it into something decadent, dark, ironic, sexy, and wholly their own. That staying power is an incredible achievement, and it also has a distorting effect. Fifty-five years! Founding members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts have been hitched to each other for far longer than the vast majority of marriages last - longer than a lot of lives last, too.
Their longevity is staggering - this band has been around for 55 years. Time doesn’t apply to the Rolling Stones quite like it does to other rock bands.
