The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil (Live) - OFFICIAL

What this video is

Filmed on December 12, 1968 — six days after the release of Beggars Banquet — this performance represents the Rolling Stones' first-ever live rendition of 'Sympathy for the Devil' and the final documented public performance of the band's original lineup. The Rock and Roll Circus was conceived as a BBC promotional vehicle set within a circus theatrical framework, but was shelved for nearly three decades. The track's…

Why it matters

A foundational document of the transition from British Invasion pop to hard rock and art rock. The performance crystallizes the Rolling Stones' shift toward darker, blues-rooted theatricality and away from earlier pop sensibility. The song's literary, philosophical, and political ambition —…

The director

Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet (born 5 May 1940, New York City) is a British-American television, film, music video, and theatre director. He began his career as principal director of the British pop TV series Ready Steady Go! (1965) and became…