How Brian Jones Found The Rolling Stones' Name in a Muddy Waters Song

When Brian Jones was putting together a new rhythm-and-blues band in 1962, he needed a name that felt raw and authentic. He landed on “The Rollin’ Stones” — dropping the ‘g’ on purpose — after pulling it straight from the title of Muddy Waters’ 1950 track “Rollin’ Stone.” That song, a slow-burning Chicago blues number, captured the restless, blues-obsessed spirit Jones wanted his band to embody.

The dropped ‘g’ wasn’t a typo or a marketing gimmick. Jones and the early lineup deliberately styled it colloquially, mirroring how Muddy Waters sang it and how blues musicians often slurred or dropped final consonants. It made the name feel less proper and more streetwise—like they were leaning into the music’s roots rather than some polished pop image. The band briefly experimented with “The Rollin’ Stones” before mostly adding the ‘g’ back as they signed contracts, but the original nod to Waters and the blues tradition never faded.

That single choice told the world where the Stones came from musically. Before they wrote a single original song, the name announced they were students of the blues. Muddy Waters would later say he was flattered, and when the Stones finally met him, he reportedly called them “my boys.”