How Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' 1988 solo tours shaped the 'Steel Wheels' reunion

Mick Jagger’s 1988 “Primitive Cool” tour was the first time a Stone headlined a full arena run without the others. He played 38 shows across Japan, Australia, and Europe, but the US leg stalled—only a handful of dates, some in half-empty sheds. Jagger had been the sky-high frontman of the biggest band in the world; now he was selling tickets on his own name and finding it a slog. The tour lost money.

Keith Richards, meanwhile, took his “Talk Is Cheap”