The Rolling Stones to be Celebrated by BBC With Four-Part Documentary Film Series

Fred Sahai
·2 min read
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The Rolling Stones is set to be the subject of a world-exclusive four-part series of films produced by Mercury Studios for BBC Two, the network announced on Thursday (March 31). The film series, titled My Life as a Rolling Stone, will be part of a season of programming across television, radio and digital platforms celebrating the legendary band’s 60th anniversary.

The band’s first official gig took place on July 12, 1962 at London’s Marquee Club; the in-depth series will explore the whirlwind career that followed, taking a look at each member individually through their musical lens. The hour-long films will present an intimate portrait of each member, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts, by delving deep into their personalities, passions and memories.

The films will also include unseen footage and exclusive stories from the band’s surviving members, and because he sadly passed away in August 2021, Watts’ story will be told through his fellow band members, musical peers and admirers, on top of archive interviews of the drummer. Special guests such as Steven Tyler, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Slash, Chrissie Hynde and P.P. Arnold will be featured in the film series, sharing how they have been inspired by the band.

My Life as a Rolling Stone will be directed by award-winning filmmakers Oliver Murray and Clare Tavernor, and will broadcast on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer this summer and distributed internationally by Mercury Studios. Joyce Smyth, the Stones’ manager, had a few words to share about the series, saying: “We are thrilled to celebrate sixty years of The Rolling Stones with these four films which give fans around the world a new and fascinating look at the band.”

The BBC will also produce a world-exclusive two-hour audio documentary for BBC Radio 2 titled Rolling with The Stones, which will tell the band’s story through unheard interviews, as well as rarely heard music, performances and interviews with members of the band and its past members Bill Wyman, Mick Taylor and Brian Jones. A complementary series, “Rolling with The Stones Raw,” will be exclusively available on BBC Sounds.

The BBC special programming will not be the only way The Rolling Stones plan to celebrate their monumental anniversary. Earlier in March, the band announced a brand new tour — summer 2020 will see the rockstars perform 14 shows across Europe as part of their Sixty tour, which kicks off at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain on June 1. The tour includes stops in Munich, Liverpool, Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris and London. The Royal Mail is also honoring the Stones’ anniversary by rolling out 12 commemorative stamps.

The BBC film series and radio documentary will come out this summer.

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