A Bigger Bang Tour - Richards' Fall

Richards' Fall

After their 18 April 2006 performance in Wellington, New Zealand, The Rolling Stones took a one month break before embarking on the European leg of their A Bigger Bang Tour. Mick Jagger remained in New Zealand to film a cameo in the sitcom The Knights of Prosperity, while Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood went to Fiji for two weeks with their wives.

During the vacation, Richards fell from a coconut tree. After suffering a concussion, he was rushed back to Ascot Private Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand for further observation. Although reports claimed he had been released two days later, it was soon confirmed by the hospital he underwent brain surgery on 5 May to relieve a blood clot that had gathered behind his skull. The BBC reported that upon discharge, Richards profusely thanked the hospital staff for his care.

On 15 May, Britain's The Independent newspaper said that the injury meant up to six shows could be pulled from the start of the band's European tour at an estimated cost of £1 million a show. The A Bigger Bang Tour restarted in Milan, Italy on 11 July 2006 at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, with Jagger singing an entire Italian translation of "As Tears Go By" and Richards having made a full recovery; four of the first fifteen dates were rescheduled for later in the summer, with the rest of the dates taking place in the summer of 2007. As well as the first fifteen dates, two more dates were postponed due to Jagger contracting laryngitis.

The only previous show cancelled was one in Dublin, due to complications with the promoter. Due to delays with construction, the two shows set to be at Wembley Stadium were moved to Twickenham Stadium, London. To promote this European leg of the A Bigger Bang Tour, there were plans to release the new track "Biggest Mistake" from the A Bigger Bang album.

In mid-August 2007, several media sources reported that the band would quit touring at the end of their tour, and the last concert on the tour, in London on 26 August, would be their last gig ever. Less than a week later, in an interview with The Sun newspaper, Wood said the band had no plans to quit. and Jagger also stated "I'm sure the Rolling Stones will do more things and more records and more tours."

The tour concluded with a record total gross of $558,255,524. This surpassed the previous record of $377 million earned by U2 for their successful Vertigo Tour. The Stones also hold the record for third and fourth highest grossing tours with the Voodoo Lounge Tour and Bridges to Babylon Tour.

The official logo for the tour was the "Chippy Tongue"—an exploding re-design of the traditional Tongue logo.