Legendary Rock Band Landed First No. 1 Hit 62 Years Ago Today - But It Wasn't Their Song Originally
One of the most legendary rock bands in history landed their first No. 1 on this day 62 years ago.
The Rolling Stones hit No. 1 in the United Kingdom with It's All Over Now, which was originally written by Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley Womack. While Womack wasn't too keen to have the Stones taking over his song, and delivering it to No. 1, the royalty checks he received changed his mind.
Even amongst the Rolling Stones, though, were differing opinions of the song.
'It's All Over Now' Divided the Rolling Stones
Guitarists Brian Jones and Keith Richards couldn't agree on the song.
Of the song Jones said, "I'm not all that keen on the record. It's alright, but I don't know, there's just something."
Richards, meanwhile, thinks the song is "the best single we've done."
"As it happens, I think It's All Over Now is the best single we've done, and I'm glad to say the group improves every time it makes a single. At least, we think so. I like the overall sound on this new one more than I did on anything before," he said.
Bassist Bill Wyman revealed why the band chose the track to cover.
"We just liked the sound of it. We didn't think it sounded country and western until we read it somewhere. It's the 12-string guitar and harmonizing that do it. Every one of our records has been different. We don't want to do the same old thing every time or people will get fed up with it," he said.
The song replaced The Animals' House of the Rising Sun atop the United Kingdom charts and topped the list until it was replaced by the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night.
Related: 1968 Classic, Named 'Greatest Western of All Time', Was Turned Down by Clint Eastwood
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jul 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 4:15 AM.