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They have been criticised for going woke after they axed their hit Brown Sugar from their concerts.
And now the Rolling Stones have dropped lyrics about presidential assassinations in one of their most popular hits following the attempt to kill Donald Trump earlier this month.
In the 1968 Stones classic Sympathy for the Devil, the band’s frontman Mick Jagger sings: ‘I shouted out, ‘Who killed the Kennedys?’ Well, after all, it was you and me.’
But when he performed the song at the last three dates of their Hackney Diamonds tour in the US, which all took place following the shooting of Trump on July 13, the lyrics were notably absent.
Instead, Sir Mick, 80, completely dropped the third verse of the notorious song at live performances in Los Angeles and Santa Clara, California and Ridgedale, Missouri and instead left the whole verse out which references the Kennedys’ assassinations.
The Rolling Stones have dropped lyrics about presidential assassinations in one of their most popular hits following the attempt to kill Donald Trump earlier this month
Former president Trump was shot at during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier this month, leaving him with a bloodied ear
In place of the third verse, Stones guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood lead an instrumental break.
The original song lyric, written in 1968, asked ‘who killed John Kennedy?’ but Jagger pluralised the lyrics following the assassination of JFK’s brother Robert F Kennedy.
A fate that nearly befell former president Trump after he was shot at during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Following the shooting, the presidential hopeful called Piers Morgan after the broadcaster had referred to Trump as ‘the Mick Jagger of politics’ because of his advancing years and high-energy performances.
Trump told him: ‘I appreciate what you said, and the Jagger compliment!’
The Stones censored the song in 2006, at a charity concert celebrating Bill Clinton’s 60th birthday.
The band performed the hit but excised the Kennedy line. It was speculated at the time that the verse was skipped because Robert F. Kennedy Jr was in attendance, but when asked about it Sir Mick’s motives were opaque.
He said ‘Did I leave that out? That song is so long, I always cut a verse. I guess it must’ve been that one.’
In the 1968 Stones classic Sympathy for the Devil, the band’s frontman Mick Jagger sings: ‘I shouted out, ‘Who killed the Kennedys?’ Well, after all, it was you and me’
But when he performed the song at the last three dates of their Hackney Diamonds tour in the US, the lyrics were notably absent
It’s not the first time that the Stones have self-censored. In 2021, they stopped played ‘Brown Sugar’ after 50 years.
It was dropped from their setlist after mounting criticism over its depiction of slavery and sexual violence.
Richards said the band have made the decision to retire the track as they don’t want to get involved in ‘conflicts’ about the lyrics.
He added: ‘I’m hoping that we’ll be able to resurrect the babe in her glory somewhere along the track’.
