The Unlikely Blues Origin of The Rolling Stones and the Stroke of Luck That Inspired Their Name

Rolling Stone Magazine, “Like A Rolling Stone,” the proverb “A rolling stone gathers no moss,” needless to say, the world of music and literature has seen quite a few variations of this saying. Although, with no doubt, the most famous lifting of the line comes from The Rolling Stones themselves. Surprisingly, the Stones were not inspired by any of these titles. Instead, it was by an arbitrary decision and an arbitrary blues song.

Many bands with iconic names have created them off of half-baked ideas and off-the-cuff inspiration. Well, The Rolling Stones bring that to a whole other level, as the crafting of their idea seemingly came from an impromptu decision by Rolling Stones founding member, Brian Jones.

The Rolling Stones’ Jazz Advertisement

In no world has anyone ever thought The Rolling Stones to be a jazz band. However, when musicians are trying to get their start, they must pull out all of the stops. That being so, Jones contacted a local jazz periodical to place an advertisement for one of their upcoming shows. The publication agreed and seemingly asked Jones one of the most basic possible questions—”What is your name?”

Jones and the other band members had weirdly not even gotten that far in their music careers. So, Jones in a nervous frenzy, looked around his apartment and saw the record for the Muddy Waters’ song “Rollin’ Stone.” Boom, that was it, Jones found the inspiration and told the publication their name was “Rollin’ Stone,” per The Ed Sullivan Show.

How they came about choosing this name is surprising, although, it’s not entirely unfathomable. The Rolling Stones were known lovers of the blues and are often credited for bringing blues to the masses. Thanks to their admiration for acts such as Bo Diddley, Robert Johnson, Willie Dixon, and many others, it makes total sense that Jones had a Muddy Waters album in his place. Still, who knew something so unplanned would become something so widely known.

As the band progressed, they slightly altered the name in order to make it plural. Regardless, the story is a testament to how some of the greatest ideas come from complete happenstance. If Brian Jones hadn’t incidentally seen that record, who knows what their name would have been? To be frank, it surely would not have been nearly as cool or catchy as The Rolling Stones. So thank goodness for Muddy Waters and the band’s unpreparedness.

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