Rolling Stones logo creator explains how it came to be

Today, you see the famous Rolling Stones logo on t-shirts, hats, and posters. It’s gone through quite an evolution to reach its fame, though.

Back in the 70s, Ernie Cefalu, who now lives in Bermuda Dunes and Los Angeles, lived in New York, creating logos for ad agencies, when he took a meeting with someone on the Rolling Stones’ team.

“He started telling me how his best friend had been in charge of The Stones, and they needed a logo,” Ernie Cefalu said.

The man asked to see Cefalu’s portfolio — which included an album cover for the International Paper Company that happened to have a pair of lips on it.

“He said ‘you see these lips, I think if you go upstairs to my art department and draw a tongue I think I can sell that to the Stones.’ So I went upstairs, 15 minutes, drew a tongue, added some teeth,” Cefalu said.

The rest is rock and roll history.

But, you may hear another name attached to the logo as well. Once The Stones saw the mouth and tongue, “They gave it to a guy named John Pasche, an art student in England, and he did his version,” Cefalu said.

Cefalu’s logo has two highlights just on the tongue. Pasche’s version — highlight on the lips and one side of the tongue.

“There’s a controversy over whose came first, but at the end of the day, they use both of them , so it doesn’t really matter. I’m just elated I had the chance to be some part of something so iconic,” Cefalu said.

“What makes this logo so iconic and timeless?” Bianca Rae asked.

“It’s the brilliance of The Stones. They made it public domain. Its so simple. It’s Mick Jagger. Its his attitude,” Cefalu said.

Even though he only got paid $200 for the logo, Cefalu says it really catapulted his career and maintained it.

You’ve seen both logos – and many more versions too – and you likely never saw a difference.

“Talk about that, there are so many versions that maybe are not identifiable,” Rae said.

“All are pretty subtle, some are definitely different, majority have different variations. It’s not imitation it’s flattery,” Cefalu said.

Everyone seems to want a piece of this rock and roll history.