Rolling Stones to stage landmark concert in Cuba's capital Havana

The Rolling Stones, who will become the first British band to play an open air concert in Cuba. Picture: PA

Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood will play for free at the Ciudad Deportiva de la Habana in Havana on 25 March.

In a statement, the Rolling Stones said: “We have performed in many special places during our long career, but this show in Havana is going to be a landmark event for us, and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba too.”

The Rolling Stones concert, which has been in the planning stages for several months, comes only days after President Barack Obama’s recently announced visit to Cuba.

The band are also leading a musician-to-musician initiative in which musical instruments and equipment are being donated by major suppliers such as the Gibson Foundation, Vic Firth, Zildjian, Latin Percussion, Roland and Boss, for the benefit of Cuban musicians of all genres.

In the years following the Cuban Revolution, which culminated with Fidel Casto becoming prime minister in 1959, rock music was viewed as a symbol of Western capitalism.

Following the Cuba concert, the Rolling Stones will fly to London to open Exhibitionism, the band’s first ever exhibition, at the Saatchi Gallery on 4 April.