On July 3rd in music history, one significant event took place in 1969 when the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool at his home in Hartfield, East Sussex, England. He was just 27 years old.
Brian Jones was a founding member of The Rolling Stones and played a crucial role in shaping the band's early sound. He was a multi-instrumentalist, known for his innovative use of various instruments such as the sitar, marimba, and mellotron, which helped expand the band's musical horizons. Jones' contributions can be heard on classic Stones tracks like "Paint It Black," "Under My Thumb," and "Ruby Tuesday."
However, by the late 1960s, Jones' role in the band had diminished due to his substance abuse issues and increasingly erratic behavior. In June 1969, the band decided to part ways with Jones, replacing him with guitarist Mick Taylor.
Less than a month later, on the evening of July 2nd, Jones was found motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool by his girlfriend Anna Wohlin. He was pronounced dead shortly after midnight on July 3rd. The coroner's report stated that Jones had died by "misadventure," with his liver and heart heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse.
Jones' untimely death shocked the music world and added to the mythology of the "27 Club" – a group of influential musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison, who all died at the age of 27.
Just two days after Jones' death, The Rolling Stones performed a previously scheduled free concert in Hyde Park, London, in front of an estimated 250,000 fans. The concert turned into a tribute to their fallen bandmate, with Mick Jagger reading an excerpt from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Adonais" in memory of Jones.
The loss of Brian Jones was a significant moment in rock history, marking the end of an era for The Rolling Stones and serving as a somber reminder of the dangers of substance abuse in the music industry. His musical legacy, however, lives on through the groundbreaking work he did with the band during their early years.