The Rolling Stones are always on the list of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time (basically, it's usually a battle between them and The Beatles) and their endurance has launched them to the next level of legendary. I remember quite well when I was young and had just moved to Detroit; the Rolling Stones, on the heels of their hit "Start Me Up" and the Tattoo You album in 1981, announced a new World Tour (sponsored by Jovan, a line of colognes and perfumes) that was to include a stop in the Detroit area. The news covered it and interviewed someone who noted "Dude, I gotta go! The Stones are 40, man, they're never gonna tour again!"
But they've kept on going, sometimes releasing new music along the way. They even have a new hit now, "Living In A Ghost Town," written last year and released just a few weeks ago. The song turned out to be quite poignant for what we're dealing with right now and it's raced up the charts to the point where now The Rolling Stones have had hits on the charts in seven - SEVEN - decades in a row. Yes, the Sixties were that long ago now. *gulp*
In a genre that embraces youth, energy, often rebellion, The Rolling Stones kept going into their fifties, sixties, and seventies. Even back in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the Steel Wheels tour, people were dismissing them as "The Rolling Bones." Yet, these kept rocking and now drummer Charlie Watts - still banging away on these tours - is 78. The youngest of the four main members, Ronnie Wood, is the baby at 72. Keith, for all the jokes about him outliving cockroaches (and he likely will) and Mick, still preening on stage and running around even after heart valve surgery in 2019, are both 76.
We now marvel, mostly with admiration and wonder, at how The Rolling Stones are still touring and rocking, even as they've delayed their tour due to COVID-19 but still plan on gearing up again in 2021, when Charlie Watts will turn 80. Meanwhile, 60 Minutes on CBS was marveling at their advanced age for rock and rollers, too - back in 1994 when members were starting to enter their fifties. Check this out, it's a series of really good interviews but the funny part, a little over a minute in, is when Ed Bradley notes that Mick is 51 (whoa!) and, in a sense, how long can they keep this up?
Turns out, over a quarter century longer. So far. See the whole story and interviews here or below!