How Bill Wyman's 1986 Exit Changed the Stones' Bass Role: Darryl Jones as a Session Player Without Full Membership

Bill Wyman’s departure in 1986 wasn’t just the end of a 30-year run—it was the last time a bassist sat in the Rolling Stones as a full band member. Wyman had written songs (“In Another Land”), negotiated his own contract, and treated the band as a partnership. When he left, the Stones opted for hired guns instead of replacing him with a voting member. Darryl Jones came on in 1993 and has never been invited to join the band’s corporate structure.

Jones’s role differs in two big ways. Onstage, he’s far more animated than Wyman ever was—Wyman stood near-still in a three-piece suit, while Jones prowls the stage, locks in with the guitarists, and brings a funkier, busier style. But creatively, Jones has less input. He doesn’t write songs, doesn’t get a share of publishing, and isn’t part of the core decision-making. He’s a session musician paid per tour, not a partner. That shift—from Wyman’s quiet co-founder role to Jones’s skilled but temporary presence—has kept the Stones’ rhythm section consistent while lowering the stakes of who sits next to Keith.