1966 Rock Classic Hit No. 1 60 Years Ago Today - and Remains One of the Era's Most Enduring Anthems
The Rolling Stones are among the biggest, most influential bands of all time, and many of their songs remain massively popular, even decades after the band had its start in 1962. However, any teen who went through an emo or goth phase over the last several decades should be very familiar with one Rolling Stones song in particular: "Paint It, Black."
The dark anthem was first released in May of 1966, and by June 11 of that same year-60 years ago today-it had already hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for two weeks. Simultaneously, the song had broken yet another record by becoming the first song featuring a sitar to top the charts.
The song, as its title suggests, has an overall morose feel, with lyrics like, "No colors anymore / I want them to turn black" and "With flowers and my love / Both never to come back." However, that sullen tone is exactly why the song became so popular in 1966 and continues to be so popular today.
In fact, just a few years ago, the song had an appearance in the fan-favorite Netflix series Wednesday, in which Wednesday Addams (appropriately) performed a rendition of the song on her cello.
Showcasing the song's staying power is the fact that even that version of the song currently has a whopping 50 million streams on Spotify. Yes, that pales in comparison to the well over one billion listens the Rolling Stones' versions on Spotify (of which there are multiple) have, but given that this is a recent, entirely instrumental version of the song that was only released in 2022, it's clear that this iconic anthem continues to have a massive influence, 60 years later.
The same is certainly true of the Rolling Stones themselves as well. Just recently, in fact, the band announced a brand-new collaboration, making it clear that they are not going anywhere any time soon.
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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 6:23 PM.