Long before Mick Jagger and Keith Richards co-created one of the most iconic bands of all time, their friendship was pretty typical; they went to the same primary (grammar) school. Their moms were friends, and the future rock stars lived in the same Dartford, England neighborhood. Jagger says the two were playmates, but not “best friends”.

In October 1961, a decade after primary school, they met again at a train station in Dartford. Jagger was headed to the London School of Economics; Richards was on his way to Sidcup Art College. The old friends got to talking, particularly about the collection of blues and R&B records Jagger was carrying; records that were not yet available in England; Richards was fascinated by the collection. They realized they had a mutual friend, bass guitarist Dick Taylor, who played with Jagger in a band, but also “jammed” with Richards at Sidcup. Soon, the three were getting together regularly to play guitar and listen to records.

Jagger and Richards met slide guitarist Brian Jones, at a blues club. Jones wanted to form a band; they agreed to join him, as did Taylor, Ian Stewart and Mick Avory. At the time of their first (stand in) performance, the group still had no name; however Jones was inspired by a Muddy Waters track titled "Rollin' Stone".

On July 12, 1962, the band debuted as the “Rolling Stones”, with Jagger as lead singer, Richards and Jones on guitar, Taylor on bass, Stewart on keyboards and Avory on drums. The rest is music history.

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