Exile on Main St.

Exile on Main St. is the tenth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 12 May 1972 on their own label. It was the band's tenth album in the UK and twelfth in the US, and is seen as the peak of a run of highly praised records that started with Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), and Sticky Fingers (1971). The album covers a broad stylistic range, drawing heavily from Delta blues, gospel, and country rock.

Initially, critics gave it mixed reviews, but by the end of the 1970s it was being reassessed much more favorably. It has since become recognized as a landmark rock album, often called the Rolling Stones' finest work and one of the greatest albums ever made. Commercially, it was a success, reaching number one in six countries: the Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Recording began in 1969 at Olympic Studios in London during the sessions for Sticky Fingers, with the main work starting in mid-1971 at Nellcôte, a rented villa in the South of France, after the band members became tax exiles. With no professional studio nearby, they used a mobile recording unit and recorded inside the house. The Nellcôte sessions were loose and disorganized, often running late into the night, with the lineup changing from day to day. Overdubs were finished at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, with extra musicians including pianist Nicky Hopkins, saxophonist Bobby Keys, drummer and producer Jimmy Miller, and horn player Jim Price. The sessions produced enough material for the band's first double album.

The album continued the back-to-basics approach of Sticky Fingers, but showed an even wider range of influences—blues, rock and roll, swing, country, and gospel. The lyrics explore hedonism, sexuality, and nostalgia. It includes the singles "Happy" (with Keith Richards on lead vocals), the country ballad "Sweet Virginia", and the worldwide top-ten hit "Tumbling Dice". The cover art, a collage of different images, reflects the band's defiant pride. After the album came out, the Stones toured America, gaining notoriety for rowdy crowds and performances.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 7 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list in 2003 and 2012, then dropped it to number 14 in 2020, but it remained the highest-ranked Rolling Stones album on the list.