Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary: 10 Things You Didn’t Know

June marks the 50^th anniversary of The Rolling Stones. And while this English rock band’s bad boys have had a tumultuous relationship, they’re still rolling along, with 29 studio albums under their belts and a 50^th anniversary tour planned for…..next year?

Here are 10 things you may not know about the Rolling Stones:

1. In June 1962, Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones was on the phone with someone from the music publication Jazz News, trying to promote his still-unnamed band, when he was forced to come up with a name on the fly. In the book According to the Rolling Stones, guitar player Keith Richards said, “The voice on the other end of the line obviously said, ‘What are you called?’ Panic. The Best of Muddy Waters’ album was lying on the floor– and track one was ‘Rollin’ Stone Blues.’

2. The Rolling Stones first appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on October 25, 1964. But the unruly audience annoyed the show’s host, especially when their screams drowned out his chat with front man Mick Jagger. According to the show’s website Sullivan later said, “I promise you they’ll never be back on on our show” and sent the Stones’ management a note: “We were deluged with mail protesting the untidy appearance-clothes and hair of your Rolling Stones…I would like to learn from you, whether your young men have reformed in the matter of dress and shampoo.” But the Rolling Stones did return to “The Ed Sullivan Show”-to the tune of five more times.

3. A “Mad Men” episode recently showed Don Draper and Co. attempting to sign the Rolling Stones for a “Heinz Is On Your Side” spot, set to the music of the Stones classic, “Time Is On Your Side.” While that plotline may have seemed farfetched, in their early days the Stones really did sing a jingle– for Rice Krispies cereal. Check out the 1964 ad here.

4. The cover for the band’s 1969 album, “Let It Bleed,” featured a photo of an unusual cake, piled atop a film reel can, a pizza and a tire. According to Daily Mail, the over-the-top cake was baked by UK television cook Delia Smith, who embellished it with cherries, silver balls, pink and green icing and wedding cake-style figurines of the band members. “They wanted it to be very over-the-top and as gaudy as I could make it,” Smith said.

5. Brian Jones died in 1969, after drowning in the swimming pool of his home in England. But the former Rolling Stones member wasn’t the only famous owner of the East Sussex property. According to The Telegraph, “Winnie the Pooh” author A.A. Milne owned the home prior to Jones. Of the band’s contentious relationship with Jones in the years prior to his death, Richards told Rolling Stone he tried to help his former band mate but said, “It doesn’t surprise me that he came to a sticky end.”

6. “Gimme Shelter,” the 1970 documentary of the band’s ill-fated concert at Altamont Speedway, had a future legend behind the scenes. According to Salon, a young George Lucas was one of the cameramen for the movie. Lucas went on to become the famed director of “Star Wars.”

7. The famous cover to the 1971 album “Sticky Fingers” was conceived by artist Andy Warhol. The original version of the cover featured a close up of a jeans-clad male and was accompanied by a working zipper that opened to reveal white underwear with the band’s tongue logo on it. VH1 named “Sticky Fingers” the greatest album cover of all time.

8. The title track to the 1978 album “Some Girls” contained lyrics that many deemed racist, including Reverand Jesse Jackson. On “Saturday Night Live,” Garrett Morris did a mock-editorial “Weekend Update” segment in which he questioned the song’s mention of promiscuous black girls. “I have one thing to say to you, Mr. Mick Jagger… where are these women?” he asked.

9. The band’s 1997 music video for the song “Anybody Seen My Baby” starred a then-unknown Angelina Jolie, who sported a shaved head and played a stripper. A 2010 tell-all book suggested that Jagger and Jolie had an affair during filming of the video.

10. The Rolling Stones will tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary-just not in 2012. According to Rolling Stone Magazine, Keith Richards said, “Basically, we’re just not ready,” and offers 2013 for a tentative tour schedule. “The Stones always really considered ’63 to be 50 years, because Charlie [Watts] didn’t actually join until January,” Richards said. “We look upon 2012 as sort of the year of conception, but the birth is next year.”

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