Words by Gabriel Spadaccini
To this day, the Rolling Stones remain one of the most universally loved groups in music history. Alongside The Beatles, the Stones served as vanguards of the British Invasion of bands that took the U.S. by storm in the 1960s, quickly becoming icons of the oft-romanticised counterculture for several ensuing decades.
Much of this is owed, of course, to the charisma of the group’s lead singer Mick Jagger, whose distinctive voice and wild, energetic performances have led to his designation as one of the most popular and influential frontmen in the history of rock n’ roll – no light accomplishment.
This is all to say that it’s natural a feature film about the Stones would go into production at some point, and it’s recently been announced in the form of Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones. The film – directed by Downton Abbey director Andy Goddard – is based on American author Robert Greenfield’s book about the summer the band spent working on the legendary album in Nellcôte, France, before its release in 1972.
Now, as any time living legends are set to be portrayed in a film, great expectations are cast on whoever lands the main roles. This go around the heavy burden of anticipation is rumored to have been placed on the shoulders of none other than One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles.
Aside from being a huge Mick Jagger fan and looking a lot like a younger version of the legend, Styles and his own massively successful boy band have even been compared to the Stones for sparking a kind of 21st-century British Invasion resurgence in the United States. Despite having been cast for a part in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming project (a World War II film titled Dunkirk that stars Tom Hardy) however, Styles’ acting chops remain to be seen. Let’s hope he’s up to the challenge.
We’re sure that there’s no shortage of opinions on a boy band member playing a rock n’ roll god. For a look at the character young Styles will have to live up to, aka the spirit of pure, unadulterated rock & roll, see below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmfi3UbDPnQ
