# The song The Rolling Stones shied away from performing after Altamont in 1969: “It became so involved”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-song-the-rolling-stones-shied-away-from-performing-after-altamont-in-1969-it-became-so-involved/
- Published: 2026-11-10T19:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T19:25:06+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/song-the-rolling-stones-shied-away-from-performing-after-altamont-in-1969/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Altamont tied “Sympathy for the Devil” to a tragedy it did not accompany.
- Jagger said he avoided the song for a time.
- Four people died at the 1969 festival.

## Summary

The Rolling Stones’ 1969 performance at the Altamont Free Concert became a defining and tragic episode in the band’s history. Violence at the event, where the Hell’s Angels had been hired as security, helped turn the festival into a media controversy and linked the group’s song “Sympathy for the Devil” to the tragedy, even though it was not playing when Meredith Hunter was killed.

Mick Jagger later said he avoided performing the song for a time because it had become so entangled with Altamont in news coverage. The article says Hunter was killed during “Under My Thumb”; four people died at the festival overall, including two in hit-and-run incidents and one by drowning. “Sympathy for the Devil” also drew wider criticism, with the band blamed for unrest and the song associated with fears of satanism.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.