Ian Andrew Robert Stewart (18 July 1938 – 12 December 1985) was a British keyboardist and co-founder of the Rolling Stones.

He was removed from the lineup in May 1963 at the request of manager Andrew Loog Oldham who felt he did not fit the band's image.

He remained as road manager and pianist for over two decades until his death, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of the band in 1989.

[7][8] Richards described meeting Stewart thus: "He used to play boogie-woogie piano in jazz clubs, apart from his regular job.

"[9] By December 1962 and January 1963, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts had joined, replacing a series of bassists and drummers.

"[13] Stewart loaded gear into his van, drove the group to gigs, replaced guitar strings and set up Watts's drums the way he himself would play them.

Shortly after Stewart's death Mick Jagger said: "He really helped this band swing, on numbers like 'Honky Tonk Women' and loads of others.

[22] Stewart contributed to The Rolling Stones' 1983 Undercover, and was present during the 1985 recording for Dirty Work (released in 1986).

On 12 December, he went to a clinic to have the problem examined, but suffered a massive heart attack and died in the waiting room.

When the Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, they requested that Stewart's name be included.

"[26] On 19 April 2011, pianist Ben Waters released an Ian Stewart tribute album, entitled Boogie 4 Stu.

One of the songs recorded for this album was Bob Dylan's "Watching the River Flow", played by The Rolling Stones featuring Bill Wyman on bass.

Jagger, Richards, Wood and Watts all sent video messages for the ceremony and the award was accepted by Stewart's widow and son.

[23][28] According to a Sunday Herald article in March 2006, Stewart was the basis for a fictional detective: ... Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin has revealed that John Rebus, the star of 15 novels set in the grimy underbelly of the nation's capital, may have more to do with the Rolling Stones than any detective could have surmised.

The award-winning novelist admits during a new Radio 4 series exploring the relationships between crime writers and their favourite music that he took some of his inspiration for the unruly inspector from the "sixth Stone", Ian Stewart.The lyrics to Aidan Moffat & the Best-Of's song "The Sixth Stone" were written by Ian Rankin about Stewart.