The Rolling Stones first appeared at the Marquee Club in London. At that time, Mick Avory played drums for the group. He would eventually leave and Tony Chapman was hired as his replacement.
This did not last and Chapman also left with drummer Charlie Watts(born June 2, 1941 in Islington, London) assuming the vacant slot.

In April of 1963, manager Andrew Oldham and Eric Easton were attracted to the group by a music press journalist. But Easton would soon lose-out to the former public relations man and hustler Oldham.
Through the efforts of Oldham and record executive Dick Rowe, the "Stones" were signed to a recording deal with Decca Records.

Originally billed as the "Bad Boys" of Rock and Roll(this image was portrayed to counter the clean-cut look of the Beatles), the group would eventually succumb to the wishes of manager Oldham and release Ian Stewart. Even still, Stewart would remain with the group working behind the scenes.

On June 7, 1963, the group released their first single. It would be a "cover" of Chuck Berry's "Come On".
In fact, a portion of their first three albums consisted of "cover songs"(songs first recorded by another group). This would include songs by Buddy Holly, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry.
In addition to "covers", the Stones also maintained a reputation for writing material which was viewed, at the time, as lewd and distasteful.
Consequently, some songs were either frowned upon or banned outwardly. These would include "Little Red Rooster" and "Lets Spend the Night Together" for example.

After the release of their first album in 1964(entitled the Rolling Stones), the influence of Rhythum and Blues on the bands music was readily apparent. But this would change in 1968 with the release of Beggar's Banquet".
Though, just prior to this LP, Psychedelic was the order of the day. Many music critics felt that the Rolling Stones were squarely in the fast lane of Rock, with this new release.

In February of 1967, the band would face the beginning of numerous encounters with the law over drug possession. The first situation would involve both Jagger and Richards, in which case, Jagger would receive a suspended sentence and Richards would have his case thrown out on appeals.
Next, just after leaving the group, Brian Jones would be found dead at his home on July 3, 1969(a drug overdose was suspected).
Jones was replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor.

As the Stones entered the next decade, their actions would seem to over-shadow their music.
In 1969, a tour of the United States would end in violence during a concert at the Altamont Speedway. The Hells Angels(a notorious motorcycle gang) was hired as the security force by the Stones. During the event, a member of the gang would stab to death a member of the audience. Afterwhich, the Rolling Stones would flee the scene in a rented helocopter.

Soon, things got back to normal. The group then decided to leave Decca Records to form their own record label.
In-between album releases, Jagger would concentrate on his film career. With his first appearence in 1969 as "Ned Kelly", Jagger would eventually appear in a total of three movies.
He would then attempt to break into "High Society" with his marriage to a Nicaraguan model by the name of Bianca.
At the same time, Richards would be spending his time indulging in booze and drugs.

After the release of "Sticky Fingers"(a song alludeing to sex and slavery), the band would find themselves living in France in order to avoid the British taxman.

Following the release of their next three albums, Mick Taylor would leave the band and was replaced with guitarist Ron Wood.
After the 1977 arrest of Keith Richards in Canada for drug possession, the Stones would release the album entitled "Some Girls".
This album would contain the hit song "Miss You", and would also sport the controversial multi-faced cover which contain several well known celebrities. After a restraining order was filed, the album cover was withdrawn, and replaced with a cover which was ladened with holes.

With the approach of the eighties, and on through the decade, the Rolling Stones experienced mediocre album sales. Yet, at the same time, saw a huge increase in concert revenues with the band grossing over 140 million dollars in 1989 alone!

After signing a recording deal with Virgin Records in November of 1991, Bill Wyman left the group. He was replaced in 1993 with bassist Darryl Jones.

As the rest of the ninties progressed, the controversy surrounding the group seemed to diminish, while their popularity(concert revenues) remains at an all time high.