I'm sure this has been discussed before but I'd like to hear people's thoughts. Conceivably, if they all stay healthy and want to do it, they could still be playing in their eighties. My worry is that Keith now seems to be the weakest link. Mind you, he has always been my hero but I'll concede that his chops are a mere shadow of what they once were. I would hate to see him embarrass himself by continuing to play after he really can't do it anymore. Exhibit A: Chuck Berry in his old age - cringe-worthy. I recently found a video of the Stones at the Tokyo Dome in 2014 and shudder to think it could foreshadow the Stones future. Keith was flubbing it royally on many of the tunes. OK - maybe that was just a bad night and I know he's done many good shows since then but I fear that further deterioration of his abilities is inevitable. I'd rather see them retire while they can go out with a good reputation still intact. Your thoughts, my fellow fans?

Till 2023 for sure!!!

If you judge by their setlists they kind of stopped rolling back in 1972 ...

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Stoneage
If you judge by their setlists they kind of stopped rolling back in 1972 ...

That doesn't make any sense.

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RockinJive

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Stoneage
If you judge by their setlists they kind of stopped rolling back in 1972 ...

That doesn't make any sense.

I didn't wanna be the first to say that...Although songs like Satisfaction, HTW, BS, and JJF have all been played live ever since they came out, the setlists were pretty varied and usually included several new songs on each tour until 2005. On that tour they usually only played about 3 songs from the new album. The setlists didn't feel really stale to me until 2012 on.

It seems logical to think that at some point because of their age it will be too expensive to play shows scheduled so many days apart, as in, they will get further apart, partially due to venue rental, which gets very expensive; road crew being paid days off, etc.

Touring will come to an end. But the odd gig here and there, that could work.

But it won't be long. They don't have many years left, that's for sure.

I would have said by this point we'd be done. They've proven me wrong.

However, I gotta feel Charlie won't be able to do it around 76, 77 maybe. DEFINITELY not by 80. So at least, I feel we have 5 more years left, if that. I could see this next NA tour being the last for them, then maybe one more European run, but then I say that every time they tour. But yeah, 5 years or less at this point. Same for McCartney, same for The Who, etc.

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RollingFreak
I would have said by this point we'd be done. They've proven me wrong.

However, I gotta feel Charlie won't be able to do it around 76, 77 maybe. DEFINITELY not by 80. So at least, I feel we have 5 more years left, if that. I could see this next NA tour being the last for them, then maybe one more European run, but then I say that every time they tour. But yeah, 5 years or less at this point. Same for McCartney, same for The Who, etc.

I think that's a realistic prediction. And no one should complain when they do hang it up. When they were in their prime, did any of us expect to see them still going in their seventies? I remember after seeing them in 1981, I told my brother how thrilled I was that they were still playing in their late thirties! He predicted they would be still going in their fifties, which was incomprehensible to me at the time. (I was all of 21!) They have far outlasted my expectations!

The Stones will keep on rolling as long as Charlie is able to bang the drums for two hours. I dont know how long he will be able to do that, there are jazz drummers in their 80s around but playing jazz or rock is two different things. Maybe they have to quit next year, maybe they go on even in their 80s. I never imagined the Stones on stage in their 60s and 70s and here they are... you never know with the Stones, these guys are the toughest bastards in the game.

Don't forget that they have had long periods of not "rolling". Like between 1982 and 1989 for example. And 1990-1994. Unfortunatelly during those years
when they were still formative and able to, maybe, reinvent themselves.

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HMS
The Stones will keep on rolling as long as Charlie is able to bang the drums for two hours. I dont know how long he will be able to do that, there are jazz drummers in their 80s around but playing jazz or rock is two different things. Maybe they have to quit next year, maybe they go on even in their 80s. I never imagined the Stones on stage in their 60s and 70s and here they are... you never know with the Stones, these guys are the toughest bastards in the game.

Yeah, Charlie may just have the hardest job in the band. We all see Keith and Ronnie taking their hands off their guitars and waving, etc. Mick can pace himself somewhat. But Charlie has to keep that beat going relentlessly. If he stopped playing to wave to the crowd, everything would totally fall apart. The man is amazing.

Up to 3 years. New album, tour and done. After that, brign on the vaults.

I should have won a bet in Germany in 1998 when people around me convinced themselves that this was the last time, and I was laughed at when I said I gave them another 20 years, I still think that will be pretty accurate.
Maybe Europe 2017 as the last "tour", and then some farewell shows in the US spring 2018 (without calling it that).

It all depends on how they take care of themselves and the motivation (which has to be there, and is it seems).

I have a friend on Micks age who does martial arts faster and to a certain extend harder than ever before, but that is following some pretty specific health regimens.
If our guys are doing "something similar", no reason why we can't have a 60 years and counting thing.

They really need to shake up their current setlist because it's become too predictable.

Think about, they're now halfway between their 50th and 60th anniversaries. Back in 2012-2013, I figured they were pretty much going to ramp down rapidly after those shows, but here we are.

At this point, I think they're seriously entertaining the notion of making it to 60 years, health willing. Why not? Every milestone they hit makes it all the more remarkable and unlikely to be matched...they're interested in legacy now.

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MichaelLassen
I have a friend on Micks age who does martial arts faster and to a certain extend harder than ever before, but that is following some pretty specific health regimens.

We all know that Mick is fanatical about his fitness and health. I think the other three are the X factors. With Charlie's cancer scare and Keith and Ronnie refusing to stop smoking, the other shoe could drop at any time. I hate saying that, but it's simply a fact at their ages.

...... till Mick Jagger or Keith Richards die.

Thought they stoped rolling when Taylor left..!??

Till Mick, Keith or Charlie decide they can't or don't want to do it anymore.

that would be it.

[I suspect by now they might pack up if Ronnie had to give up too.]

Until they start gathering moss...

I really don't believe the Stones will ever officially retire as a functioning act, until the moment one of them passes.

Forever

Not past 1982. So we are into injury time.

I think they'll likely call it a day in 2033 after a year of touring for their 70th anniversary but probably still play the odd show here or there.

It's hilarious looking back to think that the 1981/82 tour was widely believe to be their final tour and that belief continued for several years afterwards, especially with the onset of 'WW3' and the release of Undercover and Dirty Work with no tour to follow either. At my 1st gig at Wembley in 1990, it was thought strange and freakish for a band of their ages still to be touring.

Personally, I think they'll continue until it's no longer viable. So too for McCartney, The Who and Fleetwood Mac, all of whom I've seen in the last 2 years. I say good luck to them all.

Certainly until Exhibitionism completes its run, scheduled end date Spring 2020.

One day at a time. Could end at any minute for any number of reasons.
Only thing I wonder is if we ever see them segue into playing small venues where the guitar players can sit down and not have to travel.

Longer than some of us

Bernard Fowler commented on this at the weareprojectzero concert recently..

I quote:

"Who the f**k knows?"

I don't like to think about it. I will probably never see them live again, because the thrill is long gone, and they're a glorified greatest hits band. But I like the idea of them still out there, entertaining someone. It will be a sad day when something unforeseen does finally stop the train.