Still rocking after All this time, and doing something they Love. I hope I can rock that hard and Look that good when I'm 93.

Started off as a pretty good bar band with great taste in covers.

Rapidly found their own style and had a great run of original - though "highly derivative"* - songs.

Went into rapid decline with the loss of Brian Jones, though Mick Taylor saved them from utter irrelevance for a while.

Still the world's highest grossing act when they chose to tour, but G-d only knows why.

*Mick Jagger

I only know "Paint it Black" and "Ruby Tuesdays" but I like both of those songs. So in my experience they seem to be a pretty damned good band.

The best R&R band of all time. Truly at their best in the 1960's I am amazed at the number of times they have re-invented themselves. The Beatles were great admirers of the Stones and always supported each others' work. I think once The Beatles called it quits The Stones no longer had the competition that made them great. Their musical output has been prolific and except for a few good albums after the 1960's most of their concerts have had to feature the older music. And yes they are old, and so will you be sooner than you think. So quit knocking The Rolling Prunes and such. I think it is great they are still able to perform at a professional level given their ages.

5 stars for the Brian Jones & Mick Taylor years which produced some of the greatest rock n roll of their respective eras.  3 stars for the Ron Woods stuff.

I am not a huge Stones fan. That said, the fact that they are, on average, below 3 stars is a reflection on the inanity of this list and not them. Great band that was unafraid to push the envelope. "Get off of My Cloud", "Ruby Tuesday", and "Let's Spend the Night Together" are among my favorites of theirs.

Contemporary of the Beatles, the longest still performing group of all times. Legendary on their own.

The greatest Rock and Roll band of all-time. Who has lasted longer then the Stones? Who has had the influence the Stones have had? I differ from most Stones fans because I am not a big fan of their earlier work, I like their albums from "Their Satanic Majesties Request" all the way up to "Steel Wheels". Their early stuff just sounds weak and I would give the early material two stars, but the seventies and eighties material is fantastic.

all you guys can talk about great bands and call them crud, but you never seem to mention who you like

Initially I gave them a 3 star rating but since then I've heard more of their  supposed classic 60s albums and frankly it's pretty p*sspoor stuff. The 60s singles are by far the best they have to offer but overfamiliarity has now rendered them boring. The musicanship is pretty loose and shoddy and quite why Keef is rated as a guitarist is beyond me. He's an OK rhythm player at best. Jagger is not that much cop as a singer and no wonder Charlie Watts prefers jazz.

35th on this list???  Despite the geriatric Super Bowl show a couple of years back, the Stones are arguably the best rock band of all time. Surely they deserve better than 35th behind the likes of John Mellancamp and the Who.

Always been one of my favorites but, I will admit that their recorded material as of late generally doesn't compare or have the impact that their earlier material did. The ridiculous ticket prices for their traveling circus road shows make me laugh. Their Super Toilet Bowl performance was extremely pedestrian, to say the least. Nevertheless, I find it amazing that people claiming to be rock fans can actually post 1 star ratings for a band that wrote "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Brown Sugar". Get real.

Here's where I part with many of my generation. Can't understand their popularity, they were the anti-thesis of the Beatles.

1963-1974 5 stars
1975-1982 3 stars
1983-present 2 stars

Mick Jagger is beyond compare as a performer but they're not my type of thing.

They are now senile. Richards recently fell out of a coconut tree. Too bad it didnot kill him!!!

One of the most influential bands ever. Brought in plenty of different diverse styles to their music. Lots of creative breakthroughs, too. Exile on Main St. still ranks as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Maybe some people here should rank them based on their music, rather than saying something like "they're too old" and giving them 1 star for being born in the 1940's. I'll admit that their Super Bowl performance was horrible. But you can't let their current tours tarnish their legacy from decades of quality music.

They are now cripples

Shocking performance at this year's superbowl. Simply awful!!! Way past their USE BY DATE. STARTING TO SMELL.

These old dudes were awful at the SuperBowl. However, their brand of music is a lot better than today's emo crap! My soul is burning!! Stop bringing my soul down now, now NOOWWWW!!

Geriatric bozos. Very hard to take seriously.

They are very good in concert i went a few months ago at Milwaukee i had my doubts to but they were Awsome i was very amazed and happy i meen now u can walk around just saying u saw if not the best one of the best rock bands of all time they played sympathy for the devil perfectly it was amazing

A true story. At the local nursing home, Rolling Stones songs are among the most popular requested.

It's no longer fun to ridicule this band. I just feel sorry for them!!

quite possibly the most overrated band ever a few good songs but not that many

Pension time

Silly old men

they rock!!!! there still going strong after so many years

More wrinkles than wet linen...and that is just the audience. And, Keith, can we have all our drugs back now? You've been hogging the bowl for decades!

Real clowns. They were the jesters in the Beatles court.

5 Stars for everything before Harlem Shuffle- but folks, this is a money-grubbing, embarrassing, old-fart festival that isn't close to the glory days of rock-and-roll. This is like Jerry Rice trying to hang on with the Seahawks and Broncos. . .go away so we can miss you, please. Rock and Roll has truly sold its soul to the devil if tickets are 300 bucks. Sympathy for the Devil indeed. . .

Goldilocks, I'm sorry but you couldn't be more wrong. It is not ridiculous to watch these guys rock out, despite their age. Have you seen them in concert? I saw them last weekend at Duke, and to be honest I had my doubts going in. I thought just like you do - that 60+ year-olds had no place at a rock concert. I doled out the $85 for a ticket because of who they WERE, and because I doubted they'd be around much longer. What a surprise. They ran and jumped around, belting out rips, for over 3 1/2 hours. They played all the major hits we came to see and they played them as if they hadn't already played them a million times. The red-carpet they had rolled out for them (which included a moving stage, fire-works, torches that warmed your face from over 1,000 feet away, etc.) was worth the ticket price alone. I no longer doubt that Mick Jagger (now 62 years old) and company has 5+ more years of quality touring left in them. Pretty unreal.

The stones had just enough of the dark side to make them interesting but, really, folks, not in the top layer. Maybe durability earns them a five.

In their prime, they were great. Now, not so hot. It is absolutely ridiculous watching 60+ year old men jamming with their guitars and drums, trying to jump around with bad knees, and trying to look cool.

Stones should be at number one. 1) The best touring band ever 2)Better musicians than the Beatles and they've proved this on the road and in the studio whereas the Beatles just did the latter. 3) Jagger/Richards songwriting is arguably the best. The greatest band ever!

They're very clever and much much more musically astute than you think - virtuoso rock n' blues players who are impossible to imitate. Understanding better than anyone else since Chuck Berry and the early Sun recordings the inevitable almost zen like simplicity of their idiom, the Stones, even when they're not as good as they can be, are still far and away better than every one else. They're millionaires, one is a Knight of the Realm -- and I don't give a damn. The best rock n' roll band in the world -still.

OUTSTANDING!!!!!!THE BEST IN YEARS!!!!!!THEY STILL HAVE IT!!!!!!RAP CRAP CAN'T HOLD A CANDLE TO THESE GUYS!!!!!!

Terrible singers. Just because you last a long time doesn't mean you're good. Were laughed at when they first came across the pond because they sounded so pitiful compared to the Beatles.

just loud never good

Mic Jagar will never die. Seriously, he is in his sixties and still touring. My dad just got tickets.

Favorite band of All-Time. I wish I could be transported back in time to the 60's and 70's in order to see them in their prime. I saw them in concert at The Vet back in 1997. Charlie Watts was amazing. They should retire after this tour. They are looking like The Stoning Rollers.

#2 behind The Beatles. 40 years of some of the best rock ever witten or performed.

The Rolling Stones have recorded some great songs. they are not my favorite group. but I do like their music.such as I can't get No Satisfaction. we have been thinking about getting the greatest hits album Forty Licks. has anyone out there bought this CD? and would you reccomend it?

A truly great rock group. Keith Richards is one of the reasons they prospered like they did. they seem to not care about embarassing themselves in their later years. Do I still need you now that you're 64(Or Older) ? No!!!

Skizero puts it very well. At their best, these guys were one of the best ever, and even in their long, slow decline they are pretty solid. From their beginnings until the mid-seventies, this was arguably the top rock act going, and during that time they'd be a contender for top act all-time.

so much has been made of the Stone decline over the years, as if sticking around too long takes away from your past accomplishments. Some consider Mick and the boys the best rock and roll band ever, i consider the Rolling Stones a great blues outfit who managed to give the Fab Four a run for their money when their heart was in it. This band is responsible for probably the longest stretch of the best rock albums from Beggar's Banquet to Sticky Fingers. this feat is unmatched except maybe for Led Zeppelin's run of their first 4 albums(but everyone knows Led Zeppelin 3 just isn't as up to snuff). i'm talking untouchable balls-out Rock and Roll churned out by the great lead guitars it's, the best rhythm section money can buy, and probably the most charismatic lead singer of all time. for the 1960's and early 1970's alone, the Rolling Stones are rock gods. true their turnout did weaken and thin out. that comes w/age and changing viewpoints, but from 1973 to now, the Rolling Stone have still churned out more fantastic albums than most bands ever hope to do. don't believe? just pick up Some Girls, Tattoo You, and Bridges to Babylon to see for yourself.

The planets ugliest group but still hanging in there after 85 years...got to be a 5......

They've been pretty much obsolete for the past 30 years or so, which is sad, because when they were good, they were brilliant. In their prime, there was nobody better, and they have legions of imitators to illustrate that fact. Unfortunately, their prime was a long, LONG time ago.

It's between the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin for the 2nd greatest band ever behind the Beatles.

Although their newer albums are far below par,they still get 5 stars for all those wonderful albums like Sticky Fingers,Exile on Main St.,Some Girls,and all the great,bluesy,ballsy early stuff.