Bobby Keys: The Sax That Gave the Stones Their Swagger

Bobby Keys’ saxophone is the secret sauce on some of the Stones’ biggest tracks—most famously the wailing solo on “Brown Sugar,” where his raw, soulful lines cut through like a honky-tonk blast. But that solo almost didn’t happen: during the 1969 Muscle Shoals session, Keys was riffing in the control room, and Keith Richards insisted on rolling tape, capturing the take that became the single’s signature hook.

Beyond “Brown Sugar,” Keys left his imprint all over Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. His serpentine, overblown solo on “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” turns the track’s second half into a free-blowing jam, and he added barrelhouse punctuation to “Rip This Joint” and “Happy.” He was also the voice of the horn section on “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” and “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll.” Offstage, Keys was Keith Richards’ closest musical confidant outside the band—a drinking buddy, a road-trip partner, the guy who