LONDON.- On 12 July 1962 the Rolling Stones went on stage at the Marquee Club in London’s Oxford Street. A phenomenal 50 years later, and to celebrate this milestone, Somerset House presents a free photographic exhibition documenting the last half-century and looking back at their astounding career. This exhibition also coincides with the release of the book by the same name, published by Thames & Hudson.

With privileged access to a wealth of unseen and rare material, this one-off exhibition includes over seventy prints ranging from reportage photography, live concert and studio session images, to contact sheets, negative strips and outtakes from every period of the band’s history – from performing in the smallest blues clubs to the biggest stadium tours of all time.

Curated, introduced and narrated by the band themselves, The Rolling Stones 50 is the only officially authorized book to celebrate this milestone. With privileged access to a wealth of unseen and rare material, it is packed with superb reportage photography, contact sheets, negative strips, outtakes and so much more, from every period in the band’s history.

With more than 1,100 illustrations, it also features some of the most rare and interesting Stones’ memorabilia in existence; international posters, draft record cover art, bubblegum cards, jigsaws and other previously unpublished treasures specially photographed for this volume. The ephemera comes from the greatest Rolling Stones collection in the world, which belongs to Ali Zayeri.

Featuring photography from the Daily Mirror’s archive and with contributions by photography legends Gered Mankowitz, Jean-Marie Périer, Dezo Hoffman, Michael Cooper, Terry O’Neill, Bent Rej and Philip Townsend and many others, this is the definitive celebration of fifty years of the Rolling Stones.

Visitors to the exhibition have the opportunity to purchase limited edition prints, copies of the book and other merchandise.

‘This is our story of fifty fantastic years. We started out as a blues band playing the clubs and more recently we’ve filled the largest stadiums in the world with the kind of show that none of us could have imagined all those years ago’.
---Mick, Keith, Charlie & Ronnie