The Rolling Stones have dropped Brown Sugar from their US tour it has been reported.
Co-writer Sir Mick Jagger told the LA Times that the reason for not playing the song was that it was “tough” to compile a set list.
“We’ve played Brown Sugar every night since 1970, so sometimes you think, we’ll take that one out for now and see how it goes,” he said. “We might put it back in.”
The controversial track contains depictions of black women and references to slavery. The song reached number one in 1971.
Keith Richards told the LA Times said he was confused by people who wanted to “bury” the track.
“Didn’t they understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery?” he added.
Brown Sugar has been the band’s second most-played song live after Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
Discussing Brown Sugar in a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Jagger said: “I never would write that song now.
“I would probably censor myself. I’d think, ‘Oh God, I can’t. I’ve got to stop’. God knows what I’m on about on that song. It’s such a mishmash. All the nasty subjects in one go.”
Critics have said the track contains “some of the most stunningly crude and offensive lyrics that have ever been written” and that it is “gross, sexist, and stunningly offensive toward black women”.
