Mick Jagger - The Rolling Stones 'Slightly Cheating' With Anniversary Celebrations

The Rolling Stones 'Slightly Cheating' With Anniversary Celebrations

Sir Mick Jagger feels The Rolling Stones are ''slightly cheating'' with their 50th anniversary.

The 'Brown Sugar' singer gathered with present bandmates Keith Richards, Ronnie Woods and Charlie Watts for photos outside London's Marquee Club yesterday (11.07.12), in order to mark 50 years to the day since the group's first live performance, but acknowledged they are now a very different band.

He told Rolling Stone magazine: ''It is quite amazing, but it was so long ago. Some of us are still here, but it's a very different group than the one that played 50 years ago.

''One part of me goes, 'We're slightly cheating. Because it's not the same band, you know. Still the same name. It's only Keith and myself that are the same people, I think. I've tried to find out when Charlie's first gig was, and none of us can really remember and no one really knows. But it's an amazing achievement, and I think it's fantastic and you know I'm very proud of it.''

The band which played at the Marquee club on that night saw Mick and Keith joined by early band leader Brian Jones - who died in 1969 - pianist Ian Stewart and bassist Dick Taylor. Who was drumming is up for debate, with it either being Tony Chapman or Mick Avory.

While the legendary band have confirmed they are currently in the recording studio, they are not thought to be staging any live shows to mark their 50 year anniversary until next year.

Keith said: ''The Stones always really consider 63 to be 50 years, because Charlie didn't actually join until January. So we look upon 2012 as sort of the year of conception. But the birth is next year.''