Who contributed more to the growth of rock & roll, The Who or The Rolling Stones ?

Much as I love The Stones, The Who definitely contributed more. Two things, in particular: Rock Operas and Synth-pop. "Tommy" was the first Rock Opera...without it there would be no "Aqualung" or "Dark Side Of The Moon" or any of the umpteen million concept albums out there. And, most likely, without Townshend's pioneering work on the VCS3 synthesizer on "Who's Next" we wouldn't have Techno or the vast majority of 80's music, for that matter.

The Stones contributing to the growth of Rock and Roll? Hah! They haven't contributed to the growth of their OWN music, the occasional semi-successful "Disco" experiments aside, since at least "Exile On Main Street". They've been riding the coattails of their past glories for at least thirty years now, and nowadays need umpteen million backup musicians onstage with them in order to do it. Out of the actual Stones, these days Ron Wood is the only one who can play with anything even resembling creativity anymore, and even that's stretching it. Time to finally retire, guys.

How ironic that Pete Townshend inducted the Stones into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame back in '89 with the words, "Guys, don't grow old gracefully...it wouldn't suit you." Unfortunately they took Pete's advice a little too literally.

The Rolling Stones were pioneers.
The Who just followed with a few years behind.

rolling stones

The Rolling Stones.

Tough call b/c both are highly influential. To my ears, I'd say The Who (& The Kinks) spawned the more obvious growth later on by the 70s w/ punk.

The Rolling Stones.

In Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, Rolling Stones had four in the top 100 compared to the two from The Who.

The Rolling Stones.

A good question; I'd have to say the Stones. The Who have had a direct influence on many bands (from the Jam to Pearl Jam, etc.). But "Tommy" probably had a negative effect on rock, inspiring overblown concept albums. And in the 70s the Who became just another big arena-rock band. The Stones have stayed generally true to a mission of raw bluesy music, thereby inspiring punk and many back-to-basics movements. The Who are an extremely important band, but the Stones represent the essence of rock.

The Stones, by a wide margin. While the Who's Pete Townshend pioneered some new recording effects, it always seemed like his reach exceeded his grasp.

The Stones could constantly change styles yet you knew they were / are the Stones. Heck, give them credit for country rock.

They both have their respectable place in R&R history, but if we're picking a name who has contributed the MOST? That's a tough call. Since the sound of The Stones and the Who differ each in their own way, it's likely that followers of each respective influence would be partial subjectively... so it's kinda hard to quantify who was MORE responsible for growth within the industry... I suppose it would be whoever was the most popular at any given point.

I think that if one were to define a milestone in R&R history, Jimi Hendrix would have to be considered the most responsible for growth. Through his own innovation, Hendrix transformed the electric guitar into an instrument of infinite sound... He was really the first to develop its use from subtle backup instrument into one that could play harmony, melody, lead, and also be used for obscure sound making. That shift in the electric instruments is what REALLY spawned the growth of Rock.

It seems quite obvious that most people don't know how much older The Who is than the Stones, but The Who was more influential cause I rarely hear anything about The Rolling Stones influencing bands..actually I don't think they ever have...

They may both be British but the Who was more underground mod in the beginning, they changed their sound as Pete Townsend became a prominent song writer. Their albums would tell stories and themes, they were the ones that created the rock operas.

I think the Stones probably had more of an effect on rock n roll with their gritty bluesy songs and bad boy imagery. They were the poster boys of sex, drugs, and rock n roll, even more so than the Beatles who were their biggest competition (that's what the media said at least although it wasn't true).

I guess each in their own right contributed heavily to rock n roll, but each in a different way.

Simply put, rock music as we know it, would not be what it is today without BOTH of them. The Stones were definitely pioneers, but I believe The Who pioneered the heavy metal sound. They were heavy metal before there was a such thing as heavy metal. Case in point; the Townshend guitar tone.

The rolling stones obviously.

They are the definitive rock and roll band

and many have followed in there wake.

But it's kinda suprising that they are not dead yet....

Love them!

thte rolling stones

If those are the only two choices I'll go with The Who because the Stones are one of the most overrated bands of all time.

By Far, The Rolling Stones