Brian Jones

Tickets for The Rolling Stones' concert at Hyde Park this summer has sold out in just three minutes. According to The Telegraph, 65,000 tickets for show - part of Hyde Park's British Summer Times gigs - were completely sold out by 9.03am on Friday morning (April 5, 2013).

The Stones will play in London just days after they headline the Saturday night of the Glastonbury Festival on June 26. It's 44 years after the legendary rockers last played at Hyde Park in 1969, just two days after guitarist Brian Jones was found dead at his home in Hartford, East Sussex. As ever, the band were accused of exploiting fans with overpriced tickets and the cheapest for the Hyde Park show were £95.00. Many were priced at £299 while ticket marketplace Viagogo has already begun selling tickets for £1,097 each. A place in the coveted "Diamond Circle" area will cost you around 2,500.

"It seems like yesterday," guitarist Keith Richards told the BBC of the last time his group played Hyde Park, "It's going to be a great summer, man.All the gigs we haven't done or wanted to redo are popping up." At the original gig, Mick Jagger famously wore a white dress on stage and read a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem dedicated to Jones. Thousands of butterflies were released into the air. 

Continue reading: Overpriced? Fans Snap Up Rolling Stones' Hyde Park Tickets In 3 Minutes

The Rolling Stones this year celebrated their 50th birthday as a band. It's the right year, therefore, for the band- Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ian Stewart, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman- to release a greatest hits album, aptly titled 'GRRR', as well as some new music- the first to be released in 6 years, and it's been 20 years since their last hit.

'GRRR!' will include their biggest hits including 'I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)', 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' and 'Street Fighting Man' alongside 47 others, or 77 others if you get the 80 track edition. The record will also include two new songs. 'Doom and Gloom' was released today to a soberly positive reception and a general feeling of excitement as they release dates for their upcoming tour.

The single harps back to a golden age of grit and energy that seemed to have faded in their later years. The Telegraph describes the track as an “energised, uptempto blues attack” and the NY Times states that it's a “classic, apocalyptic blues-rock-stomp”. But neither review seems entirely enamoured by the rock-veterans musical offerings. The general consensus seems to be that, although good, the track never quite reaches the heights that it promises, its potential is left unreached. “It lacks the real juice and wayward spirit of those bygone days.” However, one can't sniff at the clear effort that the band, whose average age is 68.25, is still putting into their music- it's admirable.

Continue reading: The Rolling Stones Release New Single, Part Of Their New Album 'GRRR!'