The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962.

[1][2] The earliest settled line-up consisted of Brian

Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar, vocals), Bill
Wyman (bass) andCharlie Watts (drums). Since Wyman's retirement in 1993, the band's full members have been Jagger,
Richards, Watts and guitarist Ronnie Wood. Darryl Jones (bassist) andChuck Leavell (keyboardist) are regular contributors
but not full band members. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Rolling Stones, noting that "critical acclaim and
popular consensus has accorded them the title of the Worlds Greatest Rock and Roll Band. [1]Rolling Stone magazine
ranked them 4th on their "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" list, and their album sales are estimated to have been more than
200 million worldwide.[3][4]

The Rolling Stones were popular in Europe and then became successful in North America during the mid-1960s British
Invasion. They have released twenty-two studio albums in the United Kingdom (24 in the United States), eleven live
albums (twelve in the US), and numerous compilations.[3] Their album Sticky Fingers (1971) began a string of eight
consecutive studio albums reaching number one in the United States. Their most recent album of new material, A Bigger
Bang, was released in 2005. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked the Rolling Stones at number ten on "The Billboard Top AllTime Artists", and as the second most successful group in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[5]

The Rolling Stones emergence brought greater international recognition to the primitive urban blues typified by Chess
Records' artists such as Muddy Waters, writer of "Rollin' Stone", the song for which the band is named.[6] Critic
and musicologist Robert Palmersaid their endurance and relevance stems from being "rooted in traditional verities, in
rhythm-and-blues and soul music" while "more ephemeral pop fashions have come and gone".[7]

he Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk
movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians. Although their initial career
lasted just two-and-a-half years and produced only four singles and one studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the
Sex Pistols, they are regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music.[1][2]

The Sex Pistols originally comprised vocalist Johnny Rotten, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen
Matlock. Matlock was replaced by Sid Vicious in early 1977. Under the management of impresario Malcolm McLaren, the
band provoked controversies that took Britain by storm. Their concerts repeatedly faced difficulties with organizers and
authorities, and public appearances often ended in mayhem. Their 1977 single "God Save the Queen", attacking Britons'
social conformity and deference to the Crown, precipitated the "last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral
pandemonium".[3]

In January 1978, at the end of a turbulent tour of the United States, Rotten left the band and announced its break-up. Over
the next several months, the three other band members recorded songs for McLaren's film version of the Sex Pistols'
story, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. Vicious died of a heroin overdose in February 1979. In 1996, Rotten, Jones, Cook

and Matlock reunited for the Filthy Lucre Tour; since 2002, they have staged further reunion shows and tours. On 24
February 2006, the Sex Pistolsthe four original members plus Viciouswere inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
but they refused to attend the ceremony, calling the museum "a piss stain".[4]

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became the most commercially successful and
critically acclaimed act in the history of popular music.[1]Their best-known lineup consisted of John Lennon, Paul
McCartney, George Harrison, andRingo Starr. Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll, they later utilised several genres,
ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. In the
early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania", but as their songwriting grew in sophistication, they
came to be perceived by many fans and cultural observers as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the era's sociocultural
revolutions.

The Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960. Manager Brian
Epstein moulded them into a professional act and producer George Martin enhanced their musical potential. They gained
popularity in the United Kingdom after their first single, "Love Me Do", became a modest hit in late 1962. They acquired the
nickname the "Fab Four" as Beatlemania grew in Britain over the following year, and by early 1964 they had become
international stars, leading the "British Invasion" into the United States pop market. From 1965 on, they produced what many
critics consider their finest material, including the innovative and widely influential albumsRubber
Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (1968), and Abbey Road (1969).
After their break-up in 1970, the ex-Beatles each enjoyed successful musical careers. Lennon died in 1980 after having been
shot by a deranged fan, and Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain active.

The Beatles have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act.
According to the RIAA, as of 2012 they have sold 177 million units in the US, more than any other artist. In 2008, they
topped Billboardmagazine's list of the all-time most successful "Hot 100" artists. As of 2012, they hold the record for most
number-one hits on the Hot 100 chart with 20. They have received 7Grammy Awards from the American National Academy
of Recording Arts and Sciences, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and 15 Ivor Novello Awards from
theBritish Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Collectively included in Timemagazine's compilation of the 20th
century's 100 most influential people, they are the best-selling band in history, with EMI Records estimating sales of over one
billion units.[2]