Black and Blue is the thirteenth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 23 April 1976, by Rolling Stones Records.

Guitarist Mick Taylor quit the band in December 1974 as they were beginning to record the album. The band auditioned several replacements including Wayne Perkins, Harvey Mandel, and Ronnie Wood. The Stones' rhythm section, bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts, appear on nearly all tracks. Frequent collaborators Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston play keyboards, and percussionist Ollie E. Brown plays on several songs.

It was the Rolling Stones' third self-produced album with Jagger and Richards producing as "The Glimmer Twins". Black and Blue showed the band blending their traditional rock and roll style with heavy influences from reggae and funk music. The only single from the album, "Fool to Cry", had moderate chart success, reaching the top 10 in the US and UK; reviews were mixed.

Recording In December 1974, the Rolling Stones returned to Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, where they recorded It's Only Rock 'n Roll the previous winter. They began work on a new album with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards producing as the Glimmer Twins. The Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas '75 was set for that summer, and their plan was to tour in support of a new album.Bockris, Victor. Keith Richards: The Unauthorised Biography. Omnibus Press, 2013. 267f.

As they prepared to lay tracks for "Fool to Cry" and their cover of Eric Donaldson's 1971 reggae song "Cherry Oh Baby", guitarist Mick Taylor resigned. The bombshell left the band in the lurch.Richards, Keith. Life. e-book. Little, Brown, 2010. According to Keith Richards, Taylor's departure shifted the focus of the recording process into "rehearsing guitar players, that's what that one was about." The Rolling Stones' various legal and corporate issues, separate lifestyles, and Richards' addiction to heroin combined with Taylor's departure to create a unit that was in serious disarray.

After a break for the holidays, the band convened in Rotterdam where they auditioned Taylor's replacement. Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman put Peter Frampton's name into the hat.Frampton, Peter. Do You Feel Like I Do? A Memoir. With Alan Light. Hachette Books, 2020. 106. Other hopefuls included Steve Marriott, Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Robert A. Johnson and Ronnie Wood. Mandel, Perkins, and Wood's guitar work appears on the finished album. As much as the band enjoyed working with all these different personalities, they shared a sense that the core unit should remain English.Holland, Jools and Dora Loewenstein. The Rolling Stones: A Life on the Road: Interviews. United States, Penguin Studio, 1998. 143. Wood joined the band on their summer tour and became an official member of the Rolling Stones in February 1976.Wood, Ronnie. Ronnie: The Autobiography. St. Martin's Press, 2008. 137.

Jeff Beck went over for a jam session "just to see what was going on". Happy with his solo career, Beck joked, "in two hours I got to play three chords – I need a little more energy than that."Edison, Mike. Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2019. 89. Beck's playing with the Stones was released in the 2025 super deluxe box set."The Rolling Stones Announce Reissue of Classic 1976 Album Black and Blue Super Deluxe Box Set Out 14 November 2025", Universal Music Group. September 24, 2025. Accessed December 12, 2025.Caramanica, Jon et al. "15 Deep-Dive, Goodies-Filled Boxed Sets and Reissues From 2025", The New York Times. December 10, 2025.

Ian Stewart invited Rory Gallagher to audition in January 1975. Jagger loved his professionalism, and the media reported that Gallagher was the Stones' replacement for Taylor. The audition came right before Gallagher's tour of Japan. He had to leave before a decision was made. He was open to joining and assumed if the band wanted him to join they would ask. When the Rolling Stones released "Miss You", he recognized the riff as a reworking of one he had played for the band during their time in Rotterdam.Muise, Dan. Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower: Their Lives and Music. Bloomsbury Academic, 2002. 32f.Connaughton, Marcus. Rory Gallagher: His Life and Times. Ireland, Collins Press, 2012. 168.

During these Rotterdam sessions, the band worked on "Memory Motel", "Hey Negrita", and "Crazy Mama", as well as an embryonic version of "Start Me Up". The only album track recorded in the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio in Rotterdam was "Melody". Given their slow progress, the band decided to put off the album's release until the following year. The compilation Made in the Shade was released as a stopgap. From the material they recorded for the new album, the only song they played on the summer tour was "Cherry Oh Baby".Rusten, Ian M. The Rolling Stones in Concert, 1962-1982: A Show-by-Show History. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2018. 231.

In October and early November 1975, the band recorded overdubs in Montreux, Switzerland.Babiuk, Andy. Rolling Stones Gear: All the Stones' Instruments from Stage to Studio. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2023. 446. They overdubbed more parts back at Musicland in Munich that December. Jimmy Page borrowed some of the Rolling Stones' studio time to finish his overdubs for Led Zeppelin's Presence.Wall, Mick. When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin. St. Martin's Press, 2010. 349ff. Black and Blue was completed in New York City at Atlantic Studios in February 1976."Black and Blue", Time Is In Our Side. Accessed December 17, 2025. That month the Stones flew to Sanibel Island Beach on Sanibel Island, Florida, to be photographed by fashion photographer Hiro for the album cover art.Epting, Chris. Led Zeppelin Crashed Here: The Rock and Roll Landmarks of North America. Santa Monica Press, 2007. 109.

Songs Black and Blue runs a stylistic gamut from hard rock and funk to reggae, blues, and soft rock. "Hot Stuff" features lead guitar playing by Harvey Mandel from Canned Heat and reflects the popularity of disco at the time. The leads on "Hand of Fate" are played by Wayne Perkins, who was recommended to the Rolling Stones by Eric Clapton.Jucha, Gary J. Rolling Stones FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Bad Boys of Rock. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019. 247–54.

"Cherry Oh Baby" is a fairly literal cover of Eric Donaldson's reggae song. Keith Richards hands off guitar duties on "Memory Motel" to Perkins (acoustic) and Mandel (electric). He joins Mick Jagger and Billy Preston on keyboards and sings a duet with Jagger. Ron Wood is credited with inspiring "Hey Negrita", and it features him sparring with Richards.

"Melody" is derived from "Do You Love Me", a song Billy Preston co-wrote for his 1973 album Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music. When Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings recorded "Melody", they gave full credit to Preston instead of Jagger/Richards. On Black and Blue, Preston is merely given an "inspired by" credit. He resented the theft, which led to his estrangement from the band. "Melody" features the first audible count off on a Rolling Stones track.Margotin, Philippe and Jean-Michel Guesdon. The Rolling Stones All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Workman Publishing Company, 2016. Preston's vocalizing is audible throughout and turns into a call and response with Jagger. The schmaltzy "Fool to Cry" was the album's only hit, but it was soporific enough to put Richards to sleep during a performance of it in 1976. "Crazy Mama" features more interplay between Richards and Wood and lays a template for the next iteration of the band.

Two extra tracks recorded in the Rotterdam sessions were later released on 1981's Tattoo You: "Slave" and "Worried About You", with a guitar solo by Wayne Perkins.

Release and reception Black and Blue was released on 23 April 1976. The lead single "Fool to Cry" became a worldwide top 10 hit.Beviglia, Jim. Counting Down the Rolling Stones: Their 100 Finest Songs. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. 64. The album reached No. 2 in the UK and spent an interrupted four-week spell at number 1 in the United States, going platinum there.

Controversy The promotional campaign involved a brutal display coordinated by Mick Jagger. He wanted an ugly model to look bruised and battered while she is bound with her legs spread above an image of the band. The image was accompanied by the tagline, "I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones – and I love it!". In Jagger's view, a lot of women "want to be chained up".Forrest, Ricardo A. "Women in Rock: Artsy Image or Insult?" Neworld: The Multi-Cultural Magazine of the Arts, 4, no. 5, 1978. 43. Atlantic Records also recorded a series of radio ads featuring a woman responding to the crack of a whip, "Ooooh, beat me, beat me, make me 'Black and Blue'...I love it."Bronstein, Carolyn. Battling Pornography: The American Feminist Anti-Pornography Movement, 1976-1986. Cambridge University Press, 2011. 83–127. The visual campaign ran in print media and most notably on a 14x48-foot billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.Bronstein, Carolyn. "No More Black and Blue: Women Against Violence Against Women and the Warner Communications Boycott, 1976—1979". Violence against Women, vol. 14, no. 4, 2008. 418–36."Anita Russell: Stones"

The billboard inspired a multiyear protest by Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW). The billboard was removed and the radio ads were canceled, but the print ads were already in circulation. WAVAW canvassed record stores and found plenty of album art that was similarly problematic.Gelder, Lindsy Van. "Women’s War on LP Cover Violence", Rolling Stone. April 21, 1977. 62. Examples included the covers of Cold Blood's Thriller and Eric Gale's Ginseng Woman, as well as titles like Kiss' Love Gun which conflates sex with violence.

The controversy over the tasteless promotional campaign overshadowed the album's release. The label's formulaic assurances that it was not condoning violence did not satisfy WAVAW who responded with a boycott. Their pressure campaign continued until November 1979, when Atlantic's parent company, Warner Communications, Inc., issued a joint statement with WAVAW announcing a policy of screening its releases for any depictions of violence against women.

Critical reception

Black and Blue reviews were mixed, as was common for mid-career releases by established artists. Some critics liked it, others were bewildered, and several judged it inferior to Exile on Main St. (1972), which was regarded as the group's best work. The band's early 70's run included some of their most well-received work, but the middle of the decade featured much less esteemed albums. Critics were preoccupied with the band's age and frequently wondered if it was possible for men in their 30s to remain relevant to rock and roll.Coelho, Victor, and John Covach, editors. The Cambridge Companion to the Rolling Stones. Cambridge University Press, 2019.

If there were a critical consensus, it could be summed up by the review in Street Life, "It's another Stones' album, that's all..."Hayman, Martin. "Old, Borrowed, Black And Blue", Street Life. 1 May 1976. Lester Bangs expounded in Creem, "the heat's off, because it's all over, they really don't matter anymore or stand for anything...this is the first meaningless Rolling Stones album, and thank God".