"Don't Stop" is a single by

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

featured on their 2002

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

Forty Licks ''Forty Licks'' is a double compilation album by the Rolling Stones. A 40-year career-spanning retrospective, ''Forty Licks'' is notable for being the first retrospective to combine their formative Decca/London era of the 1960s, now licensed b ...

''.

History

Credited to singer

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and guitarist

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

, "Don't Stop" was largely the work of Jagger. Writing began during Jagger's preparations for his 2001 album ''

Goddess in the Doorway ''Goddess in the Doorway'' is the fourth solo album by Mick Jagger, released in 2001. The most recent offering from Jagger as a solo artist, it marked his first release with Virgin Records, with whom he has been contracted as a member of the Ro ...

''. At the time of release, he commented: "For me, doing a solo album or a Stones album is all the same, with one proviso: that when I'm writing for the Rolling Stones I don't mind if the song sounds like the ones the Stones do, whereas if I'm writing, but not recording with the Rolling Stones, I don't want the song to contain too many of the clichés that one associates with the Rolling Stones, so I try quite hard to avoid them. Before the release of ''Forty Licks'', I wrote "Don't Stop" in the same period that I was writing the songs for my solo album, and I just put it to one side and said to myself, 'This sounds very much like the Rolling Stones to me. It might be very useful in the coming months, but I'll leave it for now and I won't record it because I think it's going to be better for the Stones.'" A straightforward rocker featuring a trademark opening

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

from Richards, "Don't Stop" tells of a rough love affair between the singer and his lover:

Recording and release

Recording began on "Don't Stop" in the early summer of 2002 at Guillaume Tell Studios, in

Suresnes, France Suresnes () is a commune in the western inner suburbs of Paris, France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,482 as of 2020. Suresnes borders the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, ac ...

. On the recording, Richards said at the time, "Don't Stop" is basically all Mick. He had the song when we got to Paris to record. It was a matter of me finding the guitar licks to go behind the song, rather than it just chugging along. We don't see a lot of each other. I live in America, he lives in England. So when we get together, we see what ideas each has got: 'I'm stuck on the bridge.' 'Well, I have this bit that might work.' A lot of what Mick and I do is fixing and touching up, writing the song in bits, assembling it on the spot. In "Don't Stop", my job was the fairy dust.' With Jagger on lead vocals, both Richards and

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

accompany on guitars. "Don't Stop" is one of the many later Stones songs to feature Jagger on

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

. Wood provides the two solos near the middle and at the end.

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

plays drums,

Darryl Jones Darryl Jones (born December 11, 1961) is an American bassist. He has been recording and touring with the Rolling Stones since 1993. He has also played in bands with Miles Davis and Sting, among others. Career Darryl Jones was born on Decemb ...

bass, and

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

on keyboards. Released on 16 December 2002, "Don't Stop" reached No. 36 in the UK Top 75 singles chart and No. 21 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was performed heavily during the

Licks Tour The Licks Tour was a worldwide concert tour undertaken by the Rolling Stones during 2002 and 2003, in support of their 40th anniversary compilation album '' Forty Licks''. The tour grossed over $300 million, becoming the second-highest-grossi ...

of 2002–03 in support of ''Forty Licks'', and was also included on the album '' Honk''.

Track listing

# "Don't Stop" (edit) – 3:29 # "Don't Stop" (New Rock Mix) – 4:00 # " Miss You" (Remix) – 8:35

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2002 songs 2002 singles The Rolling Stones songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Don Was British pop rock songs