'60s Rock Legends Nearly Split Over One Album — Still Going Strong 63 Years Later

Yahoo

12-07-2025

'60s Rock Legends Nearly Split Over One Album — Still Going Strong 63 Years Later originally appeared on Parade.
The are celebrating 63 years since their legendary debut — which is a major milestone in the rock world.
While many bands have broken over the years, the Stones have kept going strong for decades. However, it wasn't always smooth sailing.
Contrary to popular belief, the band's closest split didn't happen due to Brian Jones' tragic death. Instead, tensions peaked in the early 1980s.
During the making of their 1983 album Undercover, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger found themselves at creative odds.
Chris Kimsey, the album's co-producer, once told Vanity Fair, 'That was the worst time I'd ever experienced with them. We recorded a lot of it in Nassau [Bahamas], then mixed it in New York at the Hit Factory. I would get Mick in the studio from like, midday until seven o'clock, then Keith from like, nine o'clock till five in the morning.'
The divide caused major friction, with Richards and Jagger avoiding each other entirely in the studio. 'Mick would say, 'When's he coming in? I'll be there later,'' Kimsey recalled.
During this period, Jagger signed a solo deal with CBS, signaling that the band's unity was falling apart.
He even stated in an interview with Q at the time, 'It's ridiculous. No one should care if the Rolling Stones have broken up, should they? I mean, when the Beatles broke up, I couldn't give a sh-t. I thought it was a very good idea. With me, people seem to demand that I keep their youthful memories intact in a glass case specifically preserved for them.'
Between 1982 and 1989, the Stones didn't tour, fueling doubts about their future. Although they reunited for 1986's Dirty Work, tensions remained high — Jagger was reportedly absent for much of the recording, leaving Richards to take charge.
However, the break ultimately did some good for the band. By 1989, they reunited for Steel Wheels, marking a crucial turning point.
Richards later reflected in 2003, 'I knew that album was about starting over… Either that was where the thing was going to break or we'd survive and carry on.'
In a 2022 interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Richards called the hiatus 'necessary,' adding, 'Once we started back again, I felt stronger than I had for a long time.'
During the break, Richards gained a new appreciation for Jagger's role after stepping in as lead singer with his own band, The X-Pensive Winos. '
I came back to the Stones with a lot more knowledge of what Mick's job entails,' he said. 'And it's quite surprisingly different, you're out there all the time."
'60s Rock Legends Nearly Split Over One Album — Still Going Strong 63 Years Later first appeared on Parade on Jul 12, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 12, 2025, where it first appeared.