The First Public Performance of 'Sympathy for the Devil' – Hyde Park, July 5, 1969

The Rolling Stones first played “Sympathy for the Devil” in front of a live audience on July 5, 1969, at their free concert in Hyde Park, London. This was just two days after the death of original guitarist Brian Jones, and the atmosphere was a strange mix of mourning and celebration.

The crowd, estimated at between 250,000 and 500,000 people, had come to see the Stones’ first public show in over two years. When the band launched into the new song—still fresh from the Beggars Banquet sessions—the reaction was electric