The song was performed routinely during the Stones' 1970 European Tour, occupying a prominent spot near the end of the set list even though audiences were unfamiliar with it. The band opened the shows of their infamous 1972 American Tour with "Brown Sugar", and it has since become a Stones concert staple. However, in more recent times Jagger has changed some of the more controversial lyrics when performing the song live. For example, the first verse line 'I hear him whip the women just around midnight' has been replaced with the more simple 'you should have heard him just around midnight.'