Rock legends The Rolling Stones returned to the scene of their first gig – 50 years later.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood gathered at a mock-up of the old Marquee Club venue to commemorate their amazing journey – a staggering half century later.

What is different about The Rolling Stones is that they have continued to produce music over the decades that is still innovative, relevant and put quite simply, damn good.

They have toured more than most bands and they still wow the crowds, even though they are all past pensionable age – it is a truly remarkable story.

They were pictured by renowned photographer Rankin on Wednesday, the first time the members had been pictured together for four years, since the premiere of their Shine a Light movie.

The group played their first show at the club on London’s Oxford Street on 12 July 1962, under the name The Rollin’ Stones, which was actually a hastily chosen name, inspired by a song by their blues hero Muddy Waters.

The Stones actually landed the gig as late replacements when the venue’s regular band, Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, were booked for a BBC Radio show and Marquee owner Harold Pendleton booked them to fill in. They never looked back.

The line-up for the show in that early incarnation was listed in Jazz News as: “Mick Jagger (vocals harmonica), Keith Richards (guitars), Elmo Lewis, real name Brian Jones (guitars), Dick Taylor (bass), Ian Stewart (piano), & Mick Avory (drums).”

The Rolling Stones are celebrating the anniversary with the release of an official book Rolling Stones 50, published by Thames & Hudson, featuring unseen material from across the band’s career and line-up changes. An exhibition of photos from the book opens today at London’s Somerset House until 27 August and a new Rolling Stones documentary will be released in November.

When one looks back at all the other legendary bands that have kept us entertained for countless hours, it is definitely The Rolling Stones that are the ones that have displayed remarkable longevity.

One wonders if they will ever produce another album – it would certainly be a feat in the modern music industry to put together a good album 50 years down the line. One thing is certain, if The Rolling Stones did put another production out there, music lovers would purchase it in their droves – such is the power and the allure of this amazing band.