Mick Jagger and Keith Richards celebrate 60th anniversary of first meeting
The Rolling Stones co-founders initially met at Dartford train station
By Sam Moore
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones have celebrated the 60th anniversary of their first meeting.
The two rock legends initially met at Dartford train station on 17 October 1961. They went on to form the band the following year.
The anniversary coincided with a Rolling Stones gig at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
After the show finished, the band shared an image on social media of Jagger and Richards on a guitar plectrum embossed with the words “17 October 1961-2021 – 60 years on the same train.”
A blue plaque was previously unveiled at the station in 2015 to celebrate the moment the two met. Famously, the pair recognised each other as they went to the same primary school.
Richards was traveling to Sidcup Art College carrying his guitar and a Chuck Berry record on the day they met, while Jagger was on his way to the London School of Economics. They bonded over their love of blues music and planned to meet up again in the future.
The Stones are currently performing their ‘No Filter’ tour which had been rescheduled due to the ongoing pandemic.
It is the band’s first tour without drummer, Charlie Watts, who passed away in August aged 80 after a brief illness.
Taking up drumming duties for the Stones is Steve Jordan, who has previously performed with Keith Richards on various solo projects. He has also performed with Billy Joel, Stevie Van Zandt and Neil Young.
The ‘No Filter’ tour will also be the band’s first tour that does not feature ‘Brown Sugar’ on the setlist since the song’s release in 1971.
A number one hit on release, ‘Brown Sugar’ has drawn controversy for its depictions of Black women and slavery.
Richards does not agree with the decision to remove the song from setlists: “Didn’t they understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery?”
He also said, whilst people want to “bury” the song, he was “hoping that we’ll be able to resurrect the babe in her glory somewhere along the track”.
Jagger added: “We’ve played ‘Brown Sugar’ every night since 1970, so sometimes you think, we’ll take that one out for now and see how it goes. We might put it back in.”
‘Brown Sugar’ is the band’s second most played song in live performances after ‘Jumpin Jack Flash’
The song was last performed in 2019 and has not been featured during any performance on the current leg of the ‘No Filter’ tour.