In 2021, The Rolling Stones announced that they would be dropping the song ‘Brown Sugar’ from any future setlists. The song has been widely criticized for its lyrics about slavery, drug use, and sexual assault, ever since it was originally released in 1971. Despite this, the band always included it in pretty much all their setlists. In fact, for many years, ‘Brown Sugar’ was the band’s second-most-played song on tour, only behind ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash.’
“We’ve played Brown Sugar every night since 1970,” Mick Jagger told the LA Times. “So sometimes you think, ‘We’ll take that one out for now and see how it goes’. We might put it back in.”
Ultimately, The Rolling Stones frontman claimed that they weren’t playing the song anymore because it was “tough” to compile a set list for stadium shows, rather than due to its controversial lyrics.
For his part, guitarist Keith Richards wasn’t happy about having to remove ‘Brown Sugar’ from the setlist for their No Filter Tour, “I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out with the sisters quite where the beef is. Didn’t they understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery? But they’re trying to bury it. At the moment I don’t want to get into conflicts with all of this s—,” Richards told the LA Times.
“But I’m hoping that we’ll be able to resurrect the babe in her glory somewhere along the track.”
