True bromance: Spot where Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met to be marked with plaque

The legendary duo met at a railway station in Kent on 17 October 1961 when they were mere slips of teenage lads

Jenn Selby
Monday 16 December 2013 17:42 GMT
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The legendary duo met at a railway station in Kent on 17 October 1961 when they were mere slips of teenage lads.
The legendary duo met at a railway station in Kent on 17 October 1961 when they were mere slips of teenage lads.

Not where The Rolling Stones first formed. Or even where they played their first gig.

But such is the well-documented relationship that blossomed between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards when they first clapped eyes on each other that their very meeting spot is to be marked with a plaque.

The legendary 'glimmer twins' met at a railway station in Kent on 17 October 1961 when they were mere slips of teenage lads.

They struck up a conversation after recognising each other on the platform. They’d both attended Wentworth Primary School but went their separate ways for their secondary education (Jagger moved on to Dartford Grammar).

With a guitar idly slung about his shoulders, Richards was travelling to Sidcup Art College, while Jagger, clutching a handful of records, was heading to the London School of Economics.

A year later? They’d formed the most lucrative and (arguably) influential bands of all time.

“Fate was sealed and they started talking about playing their music together,” Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite told the BBC.

“They went off and recruited Brian Jones next, and the rest is history.”

Indeed.

The news comes just as The Rolling Stones were revealed to be a more valuable asset than David Bowie in the first “scientific” analysis of the total value of the UK music business.

Why? Because the Stones continued to tour throughout their career, while The Next Day star did not.

Compiled by the trade body for the recorded and live music industry, UK MUSIC, the report revealed that in 2012 the industry contributed £3.5 billion in gross added value (profit and wages), £1.4 billion in exports and employed more than 100,000 full-time workers.

Read the story in full here.

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