In July, the BBC celebrates 60 glorious years of The Rolling Stones with a star-studded season of programming across television, radio and digital platforms. The centrepiece is a world-exclusive four-part series of films, My Life as a Rolling Stone, to premiere on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, produced by Mercury Studios, and presented by Sienna Miller.

It tells the story of one of the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands in a way that has never been done before – by viewing the band through the musical lens of each member, delving deep into their personalities, passions and memories from the past 60 years. Four hour-long films, each an intimate portrait of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts, show how these individual musical geniuses came together to make the music that has provided the soundtrack to the lives of millions.

The films feature unrivalled access to and newly filmed interviews with the band members, and from a stellar cast of artists who’ve loved and been inspired by the band. The landmark series includes unseen footage and exclusive stories from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood interwoven with new and archive interviews and performance. The story of Charlie Watts, who passed away in August 2021, will be told via tributes from his fellow band members and his musical peers and admirers, along with archive interviews of Charlie.

Charlie Watts was a true musician to the core, with a lifetime love of jazz, often cited by Mick and Keith as the rock and the glue that held the Stones together. For six decades he was the quiet force and swinging backbeat of the group and the least showy drummer in rock history. How did Charlie maintain his reputation as ‘the drummer’s drummer’, the unruffled mainstay and linchpin of the band, oblivious to the temptations of fame, but crucial to the band’s success?

Charlie was the steady heartbeat of The Rolling Stones and when he died in 2021 the band lost the man who had laid the foundation of songs loved by millions. Here a stellar cast of musicians describe Charlie’s brilliance as a drummer and his influence of rock music. Through vivid archive and a soundtrack of classic Stones tracks the film explores the unique personality of a man who always had mixed feelings about the excess that came with his life as a Rolling Stone.

Contributors are Tina Turner, Jon Bon Jovi, Slash, Sheryl Crow, Lars Ulrich, Brian Johnson, Jamie Cullum, Glyn Johns, Gail Ann Dorsey, Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, Courtney Pine, Bernard Fowler, Chris Kimsey, Chuck Leavell, Dario Carnera, Regina Schock, Earl Young, David Green, Don Was, Jane Rose, Martin Oldham, Max Weinberg, Patrick Woodroffe, Steve Brown, Steve Jordan and Stewart Copeland.

The series is directed by award-winning filmmakers:

Mick Jagger by Sam Anthony (Stewart Copeland’s Adventures In Music; Me, My Selfie And I with Ryan Gander)
Keith Richards by Oliver Murray (Bill Wyman, The Quiet One)
Ronnie Wood by Clare Tavernor (Keith Richards: A Culture Show Special)
Charlie Watts by James Giles (Can You Feel It – How Dance Music Conquered The World; The Longest Reign: The Queen And Her People)
The executive producer is Steve Condie (Keeler, Profumo, Ward And Me; Thatcher: A Very British Revolution; Skinhead).