Still Relevant After 60 Years: The Rolling Stones Reinvention Playbook
Photograph: Mark Seliger – The Guardian
Back in 1972, Mick Jagger famously declared:
“When I’m 33, I’ll quit – I don’t want to be a rock star all my life. I couldn’t bear to be like Elvis Presley and sing in Las Vegas with all those housewives and old ladies coming in with their handbags. It’s really sick.”
Well.
Jagger didn’t exactly take the Elvis route to Vegas. Instead, he built his own roller-coaster artistic road — one marked by astonishing longevity, relevance, and creative stamina.
Why am I gushing about the Rolling Stones in a “second act of life” conversation?
Because they are a masterclass in reinvention.
Not survival. Reinvention.
It’s easy to stay visible by replaying old hits. Nostalgia sells. Many artists tour on memory alone.
But the Stones? They kept creating.
Their secret sauce is not continuity. It’s transformation
Think about it: over six decades, how many musical waves have they navigated? Rock, blues revival, disco influences, stadium anthems, digital streaming eras. There were quieter periods. There were storms. But when they resurfaced, they didn’t look like a tribute band to their former selves.
They adapted without losing their essence.
That distinction matters.
Reinvention is not about erasing who you were. It’s about expanding it.
And then there is the other gem: the power of the team
Tabloids have speculated for decades. Egos, tensions, separations. Yet somehow, they repeatedly regrouped. Reinvention is rarely a solo act. Long-term creativity requires relationships resilient enough to withstand friction.
When I see someone discouraged about their career — worried about age, relevance, or having “missed their moment” — I sometimes want to press play on “Angry,” from their latest album Hackney Diamonds.
The video features a young actress — born decades after the band’s first success — driving past giant screens showing archival images of the Stones. It’s playful. Self-aware. Slightly ironic.
A beautiful metaphor.
They honor their past without being trapped by it. They don’t take themselves too seriously. They welcome the new generation while still offering something fresh.
That, to me, is what a powerful second act looks like.
So when life feels uncertain, here’s to the Rolling Stones — living proof that relevance is not a matter of age, but of energy.
And that sometimes, the best response to doubt is simply to keep rocking.
