The Rolling Stones are simply the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world. Their fame is as much the by-product of their high octane lifestyles as it is a tribute to the power of their music. From hard-working musicians in 1962 – faithfully imitating classic R&B numbers for cigarette money in a hotel in West London – to jet-set multi-millionaire globe-trotters in more recent years, the Stones have lived under constant media attention, shot from every angle by thousands of photographers, often unwillingly. In thirty years of mayhem and music no single photographer has captured the band’s spirit comprehensively. All the great photographers, though, have been drawn to the Rolling Stones at one time or another. Here, for the first time, the work of Cecil Beaton, Norman Parkinson and David Bailey, Gered Mankowitz, Michael Joseph, Terry O’Neill, Jill Furmanovsky and Dezo Hoffman, Gottfried Helnwein and David Redfern, Michael Putland, Fin Costello and Val Wilmer – amongst others – has been brought together in one book. In over 250 photographs the myths and reality behind the Rolling Stones are laid images which combine to form the first ever quality photographic book to record rock’s true survivors – the chaotic, controversial, rebellious and compelling antics of the original bad boys of rock.
