User:TheSandDoctor/sandbox

This article is about the English rock band the Rolling Stones. In the early days, after every tour they figured that they were done for -- especially Charlie, who famously quit after every tour and was so genuinely modest he didn't understand why people liked his playing, despite being considered "rock's ultimate drum god" -- but fans just kept coming.

Despite years of addictions and resulting interpersonal conflicts, losing Brian Jones in '69 to drowning, nearly losing Keith Richards following a '77 charge of importing drugs to Canada (the band was sentenced to play a show for the Canadian institute for the blind), and the unexpected illness and death of Charlie Watts in 2021, the band is still going after more than 60 years. They continue to be a power house that routinely trades the top two revenue spots with Taylor Swift and are the most commercially successful band in history, turning the group into a multi-billion dollar empire with the help of Jagger's business sense and that of a literal Prince. At the core of the band, the Jagger–Richards partnership is also considered one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in history.

Rolling Stone, in 2013, considered them the "most definitional band that rock & roll has produced" and in 2019 Billboard ranked them the second Greatest Band of All Time, second only to The Beatles. The Telegraph considered them the group who changed the "whole business model of popular music". The Stones are the only artists to top the UK Album Charts in six different decades. In 2020, Billboard noted them as "still the masters of delivering unforgettable live performances".

It would not be an exaggeration to say that they are among the most important bands of our time and have served as inspiration to countless other artists that followed, including Taylor Swift. I believe that this article is ready to be considered for featured article status and hope that you will support it along with me. I would ideally like to have this commemorate their 62nd (2024) anniversary of their first show billed as "the Rollin' Stones".