New Rolling Stones Tongue Logo LEGO Set Unveiled
A new LEGO set will commemorate the Rolling Stones' 60th anniversary.
The band's iconic tongue and lips logo, first seen on the album Sticky Fingers in 1971, will be released as a "LEGO Art" set on June 1.
The 1,998-piece tribute to the band will also include a soundtrack and an exclusive interview with the logo's creator, John Pasche. The graphic designer was a student at London's Royal College of Art in 1970 when Mick Jagger was looking for a simple "logo or symbol which may be used on note paper, as a program cover and as a cover for the press book." Pasche's finished product has become a mainstay in rock history, and now it will be further immortalized as a LEGO set.
“Since the tongue logo is one of the most recognized logos, our biggest challenge was to figure out how we could get the LEGO Art design as close to the original as possible," the LEGO Group said via statement. "Previous sets have been created with 1x1 round LEGO tiles as a mosaic, but this time, in the spirit of being more Rock ‘n’ Roll, we have used the full spectrum of LEGO bricks to capture the organic curves that John created."
The famous logo shares a striking resemblance to Jagger's prominent facial features, but it was another figure that actually helped inspire the work. The Hindu goddess Kali's downward-pointing tongue is hard to miss, and the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' logo came from a newspaper clipping of the goddess that Jagger shared with Pasche on their first creative meeting. About a week later, the iconic logo was born.
Since 1971, the famed tongue-and-lips piece has been included in nearly every bit of Stones-associated merchandise and concert memorabilia, even popping up on side of the band's tour plane and on buses. "In my opinion, the Stones' tongue logo is the most iconic, potent and enduring logo in rock 'n' roll history," artist Shepard Fairey said to Rolling Stone in 2012. "I think the logo not only captures Mick Jagger’s signature lips and tongue, but also the essence of rebellion and sexuality that is the allure of all rock 'n' roll at its finest."
The "LEGO Art the Rolling Stones" set will be available June 1st at LEGO.com and all LEGO retailers. More images of the set can be seen below.