Wild Horses (5:43)

“Wild Horses” is a song by the Rolling Stones from their 1971 album Sticky Fingers, Rolling Stone ranked it at #334 in its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list in 2004.

Originally recorded over a three day period at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama during December 2-4, 1969, the song was not released until over a year later due to legal wranglings with the band’s former label.

Prior to its release on “Sticky Fingers”, Gram Parsons convinced Jagger and Richards to allow him to record “Wild Horses” with his band, The Flying Burrito Brothers. While the Rolling Stones had already laid the track to tape, the Burrito Brothers’ version was actually the first to be released, appearing on their second album, Burrito Deluxe, in April 1970- one year before “Sticky Fingers.”

Released as the second (U.S.-only) single in June 1971, “Wild Horses” reached #28 on the singles chart. Although popular at the Stones’ live shows, “Wild Horses” has only been released in a reworked version on the 1995 acoustic/live album Stripped.

It has proven to be a popular cover song for other artists, eventually leading the Rolling Stones to re-release it as a single in 1996. It has been covered by Leon Russell, The Cranberries, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Old and in the Way, The Sundays, Guns N’ Roses, Bush, Labelle, The Lovemongers with Chris Cornell, Jewel, Dave Matthews, Garbage, Charlotte Martin, Chantal Kreviazuk, Alicia Keys ft.