The song’s raucous sound and scathing lyrics marked the band’s transgression from classic blues to a darker and more sexually explicit rock and roll. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” embodied what would become the group’s signature style. It is viewed by many as the greatest rock and roll song of all time. During the late 1960s, The Rolling Stones continued to push the envelope with a slew of provocative songs, which were abound with sexual innuendoes and drug references. These included: “Get Off My Cloud” from December’s Children (And Everybody’s) (1965); “Paint it Black” and “Mother's Little Helper” from Aftermath (1966); and “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday” from Between the Buttons (1967). The Rolling Stones tried to capitalize on the psychedelic sound popularized by their contemporaries with the 1967 release Their Satanic Majesties Request. However, the record was panned by critics as an unoriginal attempt to mimic the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). The following year, the Stones redeemed themselves with Beggars Banquet, which yielded the hit songs “Street Fighting Man” and “Sympathy for the Devil.” In 1969, they released the celebrated album Let it Bleed, which included the classics “Gimme Shelter” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

In the summer of 1969, Brian Jones left the band. A few months later, with the addition of new a guitarist (Mick Taylor), the Stones launched their Gimme Shelter U.S. tour. Billed as the “World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band,” they played in stadiums packed with enthusiastic American audiences. While touring, the band staged a free show at the Altamont Speedway near San Francisco, where a group of Hell’s Angels were hired to police the crowd. The concert turned tragic when the Hell’s Angels violently attacked fans, bludgeoning one spectator to death. The incident was captured on video and later featured in the documentary Gimme Shelter (1970). The disturbing concert footage was worsened by heavy media coverage. The American public responded by ostracizing the Stones, who would not perform in the U.S. for two years following the incident. In the early 1970s, the counterculture shifted its focus from group protest to personal identification. The music of The Rolling Stones also paralleled this change. Their next album, Sticky Fingers (1971), featuring the hit single “Brown Sugar,” represented a more methodical tone. As their music continued to evolve, they released a string of successful albums under their newly formed label — Rolling Stones Records (a subsidiary of Atlantic Records).