"We were modern and simpatico," Wenner explains. They reflected the spirit of everything we stood for, and we backed them fully. The Rolling Stones were featured on the cover of the magazine 30 times. "They were one of the first bands to put out their own album, so it was natural that they would appear on the cover a lot." But there was a time when it didn't happen at all. When the magazine started publishing in 1966, the Rolling Stones had only released two singles and an EP. So it's not exactly accurate to say that they were one of the first bands to put out their own album; rather, they were one of the last to do so. The idea for the cover came from photographer Mick Jagger. He contacted editor John Wenner with the concept, which struck Wenner as perfect for the new magazine. It wasn't the first time that a band had been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, but it was the first time that they had been chosen by another person. A year earlier, Jimi Hendrix had appeared on the cover, but he was dead. No one told him about it until several months after it was done. The Rolling Stones made their debut appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone on February 8th, 1964.