Police to Review 1969 Death of Rolling Stones' Brian Jones

Police will reportedly review their investigation into the 1969 death of the Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones after uncovering new evidence related to the case, the BBC reports. Jones was found dead in his swimming pool in East Sussex in 1969, just months after leaving the Rolling Stones at age 27. While the coroner originally ruled that Jones had drowned while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, it's long been rumored that he was possibly murdered.

Behind the Rolling Stones' 1969 U.S. tour: Photos including some of Brian Jones' final shots with the band.

Police decided to reexamine the case after 600 pages of documents regarding Jones' death were handed over to authorities by investigative journalist Scott Jones, the AP reports. Scott Jones — no relation to Brian — reportedly spoke to Janet Lawson, the woman who discovered Brian Jones' body on July 2nd, 1969. Lawson, who died last year, told Scott Jones that before Brian's death, she saw the guitarist and builder Frank Thorogood fooling around in the pool. Soon after, Lawson saw Thorogood shaking badly as he reentered the house, and then she found Jones in the pool.

Look back at more musicians lost before their time.

Thorogood was also the central suspect in a pair of 1994 books about Jones' death. In Who Killed Christopher Robin?, Terry Rawlings writes that Thorogood took responsibility for killing Jones on his death bed in 1993, telling Rolling Stones' driver Tom Keylock, "It was me that did Brian. I just finally snapped." Keylock died last month. Why the police will reexamine the case now following Lawson's statements as opposed to Thorogood's statements from his death bed remain unclear.

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Song Stories

“Toe Jam”

The BPA featuring David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal | 2008

“Toe Jam” was the debut single for Brighton Port Authority, which was a collaboration between David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal. Producer Norman Cooke, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, said that while the ex-Talking Heads frontman and the London-based rapper were listed as co-writers on the tune, they never worked on it together. “[Byrne and I] finished it and Dizzee heard it,” he told Rolling Stone. “I bumped into him at a photo session and he went, ‘I wanna be on that record. It's gonna be a hit and I wanna be on it. Find me 16 bars and put me on it.’ So we kind of glued him onto it."

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