Rolling Stones drop 'Brown Sugar' over offensive lyrics

The 1971 single will not be performed during the superstar band's latest US tour, 'No Filter'.

The Rolling Stones perform during the band's "No Filter Tour," Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, at Heinz Field on the North Shore in Pittsburgh. (Emily Matthews/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

The Rolling Stones perform during the band's "No Filter Tour," Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, at Heinz Field on the North Shore in Pittsburgh. Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Rolling Stones have quietly dropped one of their most famous songs from upcoming concerts. 

The attendees of the 'No Filter' tour currently underway in the US will hear plenty of the band's biggest hits, but 1971's 'Brown Sugar', from the album Sticky Fingers, will not be among them. 

The band decided to drop the song after criticism of its subject matter, involving slavery and the beating of Black women. 

Black music critic Lauretta Charlton wrote about the song that it was "gross, sexist, and stunningly offensive toward black women" in a 2015 article, though admitted she still loved the track.
Speaking to the LA times recently, frontman Mick Jagger said the decision came as they wanted to avoid "conflicts".

"I'm hoping that we'll be able to resurrect the babe in her glory somewhere along the track," he said. 

Jagger has expressed his own concerns about the song in the past, saying in 1995 that he "would probably censor" himself if he wrote the song then. 

The band has returned to touring after taking a long hiatus due to the coronavirus. 

They are also returning to the stage without drummer Charlie Watts, who died in August this year.

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2 min read
Published 15 October 2021 1:07pm
By NITV Staff Writer


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