On This Day in 1969, Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones Was Found Dead Three Weeks After Being Kicked Out of the Band
via Bootsy BeRo / YouTube
Founding Star to Troubled Exit
On July 3, 1969, just weeks after leaving The Rolling Stones, founding guitarist Brian Jones was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool at Cotchford Farm in East Sussex. He was only 27 years old. The coroner ruled his death as “misadventure,” while noting that he was heavily intoxicated and suffered from severe liver and heart damage due to substance abuse. Jones had been struggling with drugs and alcohol, leading to his dismissal from the band in June.
Brian Jones started The Rolling Stones in 1962, naming the band after a Muddy Waters song. He led the group through their early blues-rock phase and played multiple instruments. Over time, however, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards took on more control. By 1968, Jones’s drug and drinking problems began affecting recording sessions and live shows. The band decided to fire him in June 1969, just ahead of their first U.S. tour in years.
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The Night of His Death
On the night of July 2–3, Jones attended a small gathering at his estate. Soon after midnight, his girlfriend Anna Wohlin found him in the pool. He was taken to a local hospital but was pronounced dead. Toxicology showed he had consumed alcohol and various drugs, and the coroner noted his liver and heart were enlarged due to long-term abuse. The official verdict was “drowning by misadventure”—meaning it was accidental but unfortunate.
The coroner’s finding did little to stop rumors. In the following decades, whispers of foul play grew. Author Mandy Aftel chronicled his life and death in Death of a Rolling Stone: The Brian Jones Story. Books like Paint It Black: The Murder of Brian Jones and Who Killed Christopher Robin? claimed a builder named Frank Thorogood confessed to the murder. A 1994 deathbed statement, shared by former Stones chauffeur Tom Keylock, reportedly gave further credence. Despite police reviews, Sussex Police said no new evidence has ever emerged to change the misadventure verdict.
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Band Response and Legacy
Two days after Jones’s death, Mick Jagger and the band performed a free concert in Hyde Park. Jagger read from a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and white butterflies were released in Jones’s honor. The band then dedicated their performance of Johnny Winter’s I’m Yours and I’m Hers, a favorite of Jones’s.
Jones was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Rolling Stones in 1989. His troubled end at 27 also made him the first member of the so-called “27 Club,” preceding other legends like Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. Despite the sudden downturn, his early work and adventurous spirit remain a core part of the Stones’ legacy.
