From November 2012 onwards, he participated in the Stones' 50th-Anniversary shows in London and Newark, and in the band's 50 & Counting tour, which included North America, Glastonbury Festival and Hyde Park in 2013.

Taylor was born to a working-class family in Welwyn Garden City, then raised in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, where his father worked as a fitter for the De Havilland aircraft company.

After Brian Jones and the Rolling Stones parted ways in June 1969, John Mayall and Ian Stewart recommended Taylor to Mick Jagger.

He overdubbed guitar on "Country Honk" and "Live With Me" for the album Let It Bleed, and on the single "Honky Tonk Women" released in the UK on 4 July 1969.

[10] During their 1972 American Tour, Truman Capote profiled members of the band for an ultimately unfinished article for Rolling Stone; he would later describe Taylor to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show as "pretty, a little Jean Harlow blond-type, but dumb, and totally uninteresting.

After the 1973 European tour (during which Taylor had taken to playing alongside opening act Billy Preston), Richards' drug problems had worsened, and began to compromise the band's ability to function.

[13] In November 1973, Taylor underwent surgery for acute sinusitis and missed some of the sessions when the band began working on the LP It's Only Rock 'n Roll at Musicland Studios in Munich.

When Taylor resumed work with the band, he found it difficult to get along with Richards, who was reportedly abusive, discouraging him from playing and surreptitiously erasing riffs which he had already recorded.

"[18] Not long after those recording sessions, Taylor went on a six-week expedition to Brazil, travelling down the Amazon River in a boat and exploring Latin music.

Just before the release of the album in October 1974, Taylor told music journalist Nick Kent from the NME about the new LP and that he had co-written "Till the Next Goodbye" and "Time Waits for No One" with Jagger.

"[22]However, at the time, Taylor, who was apparently "determined to leave with a minimum of fuss",[15] claimed that there "was no personal animosity in the split",[15] and that his decision "had nothing whatsoever to do"[15] with credits and royalties.

He was attending a party hosted by Eric Clapton in London with Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood and record producer Marshall Chess.

[24] The Rolling Stones were due to start recording a new album in Munich, and the entire band was reportedly angry at Taylor for leaving at such short notice.

"[17] In response to questions about who would replace Taylor, Jagger spitefully commented: "No doubt we can find a brilliant six foot, three inch blond guitarist who can do his own makeup.

He further stated that in order to stay alive and fight his own demons (Taylor had turned into a drug addict himself by 1973), he needed to escape the realm of the Stones.

In 1977 he attended London-based sessions for the John Phillips album Pay Pack & Follow, appearing on several tracks alongside Jagger (vocals), Richards (guitar) and Wood (bass).

For the 2010 re-release of Exile on Main St. Taylor worked with Jagger at a London studio in November 2009 to record new guitar and vocal parts for the previously unreleased song, "Plundered My Soul".

[34][35] During an interview on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show (broadcast on 8 April 2013), Richards stated that Taylor would be performing with the Stones for their upcoming 2013 tour dates.

[36] Between 25 November 2012 and 13 July 2013 Taylor joined the Stones' 50 & Counting Tour performing at each of the 30 shows across Europe and North America, including sitting in on four songs at the Staples Center in Los Angeles[37] and several numbers during their headline set at the Glastonbury Festival.

The group toured Europe, with a sound leaning more toward jazz, including a performance at the Dutch Pinkpop Festival, but disbanded the following year.

Taylor began writing new songs and recruiting musicians for a solo album and worked on projects with Miller Anderson, Alan Merrill and others.

Eventually Eagle Rock Records made funds available to restore the original, rescued tapes and the album finally saw an official release in 2002 as Pay Pack & Follow.

[citation needed] CBS advised Taylor to promote the album through American radio stations but was unwilling to back him for any supporting tour.

[citation needed] During this time Taylor did session work and toured in Europe, America and Japan with a band including; either Eric Parker or Bernard Purdie on drums, Wilbur Bascomb on bass, Max Middleton (formerly of the Jeff Beck Group), Shane Fontayne, and Blondie Chaplin.

He began what was to be a significant series of collaborations with Los Angeles based Carla Olson with their "Live at the Roxy" album Too Hot For Snakes, the centrepiece of which is an extended seven-minute performance of "Sway".

[citation needed] After spending two years as a resident of Miami, during which time he played with a band called 'Tumbling Dice' featuring Bobby Keys, Nicky Hopkins and others, Taylor moved back to England in the mid-1990s.

On 1 December 2010, Taylor reunited with Ronnie Wood at a benefit gig arranged by blues guitarist Stephen Dale Petit to save the 100 Club in London.

[40] Taylor also helped to promote the Boogie for Stu album, recorded by Ben Waters to honour Ian Stewart (original Stones pianist and co-founder of the band), by taking part in a concert to mark the CD's official launch at the Ambassadors Theatre, London on 9 March 2011.

In 2012, Taylor rejoined the Rolling Stones as a special guest on their 50 & Counting Tour, typically performing "Midnight Rambler" in a prominent lead guitar role.

Music DVDs – Unofficial Taylor played guitar on various songs, including "Hello Mary Lou" after developing ideas for the soundtrack with John Phillips.