Rolling Stones kick off 50th anniversary festivities

The Rolling Stones celebrated 50 years since their first-ever gig with an intimate photography exhibit at London's Somerset House, complete with a red carpet opening featuring members of the iconic band.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood commemorated that July 12, 1962, performance at London's The Marquee Club with a walk down the venue's red carpet to open a 70-plus photo exhibit chronicling their career.

"It is quite amazing when you think about it," Jagger recently told Rolling Stone magazine regarding the band's five-decade long career. "But it was so long ago. Some of us are still here, but it's a very different group than the one that played 50 years ago."

The free and open-to-the-public exhibit features live concert photos with studio images, as well as intimate, never-before-seen shots.

"It's amazing -- most of these pictures I think, 'where was the cameraman?' I don't remember them being there," Richards told BBC News at the anniversary event.

With more than 200 million albums sold worldwide, The Rolling Stones have a lot to celebrate, though the band has not yet confirmed plans for a long-rumored anniversary tour.

"There's things in the works, there's nothing so final that I could say," Richards also said. "We're playing around with the idea and we've had a couple of rehearsals. We got together lately, and it feels so good. I think soon, I think it's definitely happening, but when, I can't say yet."

The exhibition coincides with the release of "The Rolling Stones 50," a 352-page photography book celebrating the 50th anniversary. That collection in currently available via publsher Thames & Hudson's website.