Brian Jones

Founder and multi-instrumentalist, The Rolling Stones

Brian Jones was the founder and original driving force of The Rolling Stones, a gifted multi-instrumentalist who brought sitar, marimba, dulcimer and slide guitar into the band's sound during its formative years. He named the group, assembled its earliest line-up in 1962, and was central to their sound before tensions within the band led to his departure in 1969.

Jones was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, to a musical household - his mother Louisa taught piano, and his father Lewis Blount Jones, an aeronautical engineer by trade, was also a church organist and choir leader. The Jones family were of Welsh descent, with ties tracing back to Bridgend, where Lewis's own father had been organist at Hope Chapel. Music, in other words, ran in the family well before Brian picked up an instrument.

Jones died on 3 July 1969, found in the swimming pool at his home, Cotchford Farm in Hartfield, Sussex, just weeks after leaving the band. He was 27. His influence on the Stones' early sound, and on the broader shape of 1960s rock, is still widely credited today.

Top

Founding member and original leader of The Rolling Stones, playing guitar, sitar, marimba and more before his death in 1969

Jones grew up in a household steeped in music thanks to his Welsh-descended father and piano-teacher mother, an upbringing that gave him the grounding to become one of the most versatile multi-instrumentalists of the 1960s British rock scene.

Career Highlights

Founded The Rolling Stones in 1962 and named the band
Introduced sitar, marimba and dulcimer to the band's recordings
Left the Stones in June 1969, shortly before his death

ℹ️ Born 28 February 1942, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

ℹ️ Died 3 July 1969, aged 27, found in the swimming pool at his home, Cotchford Farm, Hartfield, Sussex

His father, Lewis Blount Jones, was of Welsh descent, with family ties to Bridgend, where Lewis's own father had been organist at Hope Chapel

ALSO: