BBC announce new Rolling Stones season to celebrate band’s 60th anniversary
The lineup includes a brand new, four-part documentary
By Joe Goggins
The BBC will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of The Rolling Stones with an extensive season of programming this summer.
Billed as ‘The Rollin’ Stones’ in a nod to the Muddy Waters track ‘Rollin’ Stone’, the legendary rockers played their first-ever show at London’s Marquee Club on July 12, 1962. They’ve already announced plans for a tour of European stadiums this summer to celebrate 60 years together, but now, the BBC have announced plans to mark the occasion across TV, radio and digital platforms.
The centrepiece will be a brand-new series of four films to air on BBC Two, ‘My Life as a Rolling Stone’. The quartet of hour-long documentaries will take a novel approach to chronicling the band’s storied history, with each film focusing on their back story through the lens of a different individual member; Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and the late Charlie Watts. An air date is yet to be confirmed.
‘My Life as a Rolling Stone’ will feature new interviews with the Stones, as well as an impressive array of talking heads, including P.P. Arnold, Chrissie Hynde, Slash, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner and Steven Tyler. Watts’ story will be told via archive interviews and tributes from bandmates and famous admirers alike, as he was unable to sit down with producers Mercury Studios before he passed last August at the age of 80.
Elsewhere, the corporation have dug deep into their impressive Stones archive to bring two documentaries to iPlayer; ‘Crossfire Hurricane’, which extensively chronicles the band’s halcyon days from 1962 to 1975, and ‘The Rolling Stones: Totally Stripped’, which follows them at the back end of the 1995 ‘Voodoo Lounge’ tour as they pared back classics, covered their influences, and played intimate venues. Both films are already available on the platform.
Meanwhile, another new exclusive will be the freshly commissioned ‘Rolling with the Stones’, a two-hour audio documentary that will air on BBC Radio 2, again on an unspecified date this summer. Speaking about the season, Lorna Clarke, Controller of BBC Pop, said: “What better year for the BBC, in its centenary year, to pay tribute to and celebrate one of the world’s most significant rock groups, in their 60th anniversary year. The Rolling Stones have been ambassadors for great British rock ‘n’ roll for decades and are loved the world over, so I’m thrilled that the BBC is able to present this very special season of programming, including the world-exclusive TV series, to our audiences.”
Additionally, Mercury Studios CEO Alice Webb had this to say about ‘My Life as a Rolling Stone’: “Every now and again, as filmmakers we get to work on extraordinary projects – this is one of those moments. We know their music, their swagger, their unrivalled stage presence – and through these beautiful, intimate films you’ll see the band in all their glory as we explore what makes them truly great. It’s been an honour to work with The Rolling Stones to shine a light on their incredible lives and careers – we can’t wait for audiences around the world to see them.”
The Stones’ ‘Sixty’ tour will take in three UK dates in June and July, which are as below:
The Rolling Stones, June 2022:
9 – Liverpool, Anfield
25 – London, Hyde Park
July 2022:
3 – London, Hyde Park