Rolling Stones debut new 50th anniversary logo

“It’s quite amazing when you think about it,” Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone  late last year, discussing the Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary. In  honor of the occasion, the band asked artist Shepard Fairey to update their  iconic tongue logo with a sleek new design.

The tongue was first used on the Sticky Fingers album sleeve in 1971 and  designed by John Pasche, a student the Royal College of Art in London. Pasche  was commissioned in 1969 by Jagger, who was unhappy with the designs provided by  the Stones label, Decca Records. “The design concept for the tongue was to  represent the band’s anti-authoritarian attitude, Mick’s mouth and the obvious  sexual connotations,” Pasche later said. “I designed it in such a way that it  was easily reproduced and in a style I thought could stand the test of  time.”

Today, even Jagger is surprised at how far the band has come. “It’s a very  different group than the one that played 50 years ago,” he said. “When I think  about it, one part of me goes, ‘We’re slightly cheating,’ because it’s not the  same band — still the same name, but it’s only Keith and myself that are  the same people, I think. I’ve tried to find out when Charlie [Watts'] first gig  was [but can't]. But it’s an amazing achievement. It’s fantastic and I’m very  proud of it.”

Mr. Fairey works his magic yet again.  Very nice.

Here’s hoping we’ll see the logo onstage later this year.

(content courtesy of rollingstone.com/Doyle; image courtesy of classicrockmagazine.com)

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