The Rolling Stones are an English band that rose to prominence during the British Invasion of the 1960s. Like most early British rock groups, they were influenced by a variety of American musical forms, especially electric blues and early rock 'n' roll. By the mid-1960s, The Stones had fused their influences into a signature, guitar-based sound that established a prototype for hard rock. The Stones affected a rebellious, bad-boy image that helped propel their rise from an energetic modern blues outfit to one of the world's biggest and most influential bands. By the Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium end of the '60s, The Stones had amassed a great number of hit singles. Their music never strayed far from the blues, however, and by 1968, they returned to blues-based rock, embarking the following year on the now infamous U.S. tour that saw them billed as "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World". The Rolling Stones have Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium sold 240 million albums worldwide and still continue to record and tour the world Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium to this day.
On May 10, 2005, The Stones announced plans for another world tour starting August 21 at Fenway Park in Boston. The A Bigger Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium Bang Tour was expected to include dates throughout the United States and Canada before going to South America, Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium Asia and Europe. Launching the tour at the Juilliard School in New York, Mick Jagger told reporters that it would not necessarily be their last.
February 18, 2006, was a historic day for The Rolling Stones: They performed to the biggest audience of their career, a free concert on Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro Brazil, where city authorities estimated attendance at 1,500,000. While the Guinness Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium World Book of Records states the largest free concert ever was given in the same spot in 1994 by Rod Stewart, Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium to 3.5 million people, that figure includes everyone who was on Copacabana Beach for fireworks and New Year Eve's celebrations, not just for that concert, so The Rolling Stones could hold the title of largest Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium rock concert of all time. For the first time in free concerts on Copacabana beach, a special overpass was constructed directly between the Copacabana Palace hotel, where they stayed, and the stage across the street, to Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium ensure their safe passage to and from the concert.
In 2002, The Rolling Stones released Forty Licks (UK #2; US #2), a greatest hits album that spanned their career, that contained Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium four new songs recorded with the latter day core band of Jagger, Richards, Watts, Wood, Leavell and Jones. The same year, Q magazine named The Rolling Stones as one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die", and the 2002-2003 Licks Tour gave people that chance. On July 30, 2003, the band headlined the Molson Canadian Rocks for Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium Toronto concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to help the city - which they had frequently used for pre-tour rehearsals - recover financially and psychologically from the effects of the 2003 SARS epidemic. It was attended by an estimated 490,000 people. On November 9, 2003, the band played its first ever concert in Hong Kong as part of the Harbour Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium Fest celebration, also for revival from SARS. In November of 2003 the band exclusively licensed the right to sell their new 4-DVD boxed set, Four Flicks, recorded on their most recent world tour, to the U.S. Best Buy Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium chain of stores. In response, other music retail chains (including Tower Records, Virgin Megastore and HMV) pulled all Rolling Stones CDs and related merchandise from their shelves and replaced them with signs explaining the situation.
On July 26, 2005, coinciding with Jagger's Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium birthday, the band announced the name of their new album, A Bigger Bang (UK #2; US #3), which was released September Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium 6 to typically strong reviews, including a glowing write up in Rolling Stone magazine (often noted for its consistent support of the group). The album included perhaps the most controversial song from The Stones in years, Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium "Sweet Neo Con", a criticism of American Neoconservatism from Jagger. The song was reportedly almost dropped from the album due to objections from Richards, who prefers to avoid music that's overtly Rolling Stones East Rutherford tickets Giants Stadium political or topical, because he believes that such songs rarely stand the test of time.