The group was formed and led by Rolling Stones and Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood, primarily to promote his latest LP Gimme Some Neck.
Wood sang lead on most numbers (with Richards, McLagan and Clarke providing back-up vocals), as well as playing guitar, pedal steel, harmonica and saxophone.
The New Barbarians debuted as the Rolling Stones' support act at two charity concerts to benefit the CNIB at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium near Toronto on 22 April 1979, fulfilling one of the conditions of Richards' 1978 sentence for possession of heroin.
The list of purported secret guests included Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, Peter Frampton and Rod Stewart.
When The Barbarians returned to Milwaukee on January 16, 1980, the line-up was Wood, session drummer Andy Newmark, bassist Reggie McBride, and guitarist Johnny Lee Schell, with Mackenzie Phillips on backing vocals.