The Rolling Stones

United Kingdom, 1962–now

London band formed in 1962 by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman. They began by recording Chicago blues and rhythm and blues repertoire, then wrote in the same idiom for a worldwide audience.

MusicRoots documents 6 artists who influenced The Rolling Stones and 26 artists The Rolling Stones influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced The Rolling Stones?

• Bo Diddley — Stones covered 'Mona' on their debut; the Bo Diddley beat is woven into early Stones recordings.
• Muddy Waters — The band took its name from Muddy Waters's song 'Rollin' Stone'.
• Chuck Berry — The Stones' early repertoire was built on Chuck Berry songs.
• Robert Johnson — The Stones recorded Johnson's 'Love in Vain' and 'Stop Breaking Down'.
• Howlin' Wolf — The Stones insisted that Howlin' Wolf appear with them on Shindig!.
• Jimmy Reed — The Rolling Stones cut their teeth on Jimmy Reed's easy shuffle, covering 'Honest I Do' on their debut — his lazy groove is woven through early British R&B.

Which artists did The Rolling Stones influence?

• Love — Rolling Stones' raw blues-rock energy influenced Love's garage-rock side.
• The Seeds — The Rolling Stones' raw blues-rock energy was the key model for The Seeds' garage sound.
• Lynyrd Skynyrd — Lynyrd Skynyrd's stated ambition was to be 'America's Rolling Stones' — the Stones' swaggering blues-rock the model for their sound.
• Thin Lizzy — The Rolling Stones were a named influence — the swaggering blues-rock template of the 60s behind Thin Lizzy's sound.
• AC/DC — The Stones were Malcolm Young's lifelong favourite — 'The Stones and The Who, and that's about it' — and Keith Richards a direct model for Angus.
• Alice Cooper — The Stones' sneering R&B-rooted rock was part of the British Invasion bedrock the Alice Cooper group grew from.
• Scorpions — For Schenker the Rolling Stones' dark, dangerous sound spoke more directly than the Beatles' polish — the British-Invasion turn that pushed him toward hard rock.
• The Smiths — Johnny Marr cited Keith Richards as the primary guitar blueprint for his rhythm-guitar approach.
• Happy Mondays — The Rolling Stones' rock-and-roll swagger was the guitar-driven foundation onto which Happy Mondays layered dance rhythms.
• Aerosmith — The Stones' blues swagger was Aerosmith's founding template — the Tyler/Perry axis was built on the Jagger/Richards model.
• Patti Smith — Smith wrote rapturous essays on the Stones for rock magazines before performing — her stage aggression is documented Stones inheritance.
• New York Dolls — The Dolls were built on the Stones' template pushed to trash extremes — Johansen's Jagger mimicry was the founding joke and homage.
• Pink Floyd — Pink Floyd began as an R&B covers band — playing Bo Diddley, the Rolling Stones and sundry R&B before Barrett's writing took over.
• Toploader — The loose, honky-tonk swing of the Rolling Stones runs through Onka's Big Moka.
• The Verve — The Stones' swagger and rhythmic drive fed The Verve — most famously the orchestral sample of 'The Last Time' that built 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' (1997).
• The Pretenders — The Rolling Stones were among the British Invasion bands Hynde idolised, feeding the swagger in the Pretenders' rock.
• Cheap Trick — The Rolling Stones were among the British rock bands central to Cheap Trick's musical palette.
• Eagles — The Rolling Stones' foot-stomping shuffle was among the rock elements in the Eagles' country-rock mix.
• Joan Jett & the Blackhearts — Jett taught herself guitar from Rolling Stones records — their tough, sinewy beat and image are at the heart of her rock'n'roll.
• Bob Seger — The Stones' raw rock'n'roll was foundational to Seger's hard-driving Detroit sound.
• John Mellencamp — The Rolling Stones' swagger drives the rock half of Mellencamp's heartland sound.
• Jet — The Rolling Stones sit at the centre of Jet's back-to-basics rock & roll, one of the classic acts the Cester brothers grew up on.
• Stereophonics — The Rolling Stones' classic blues-rock swagger underpins Stereophonics' gritty, guitar-driven sound.
• Silver Apples — How Coxe learned the instrument at all: he put a Rolling Stones record on and played the oscillator against it. The first electronic rock record was taught by rock records.
• Hanoi Rocks — Named in the same list, and the two-guitar swagger under the eyeliner.
• Ryuichi Sakamoto — One of Sakamoto's two named early influences, with the Beatles.