[4] In the liner notes to the 1993 Rolling Stones compilation album Jump Back, Jagger states, "I remember we sat around originally doing this with Gram Parsons, and I think his version came out slightly before ours.

The Hard Rock Cafe had purchased the journal at a Christie’s auction in the 1990s; it had previously belonged to Ric Grech, a former member of Blind Faith.

[6] Originally recorded over a three-day period at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama during 2–4 December 1969 while Albert and David Maysles were shooting for the film that was titled Gimme Shelter, the song was not released until over a year later due to legal wranglings with the band's former label.

Ian Stewart was present at the session, but refused to perform the piano part on the track due to the prevalence of minor chords, which he disliked playing.

[citation needed] An instrumental version of the song is featured during the end credits of Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary film Shine a Light (2008).

Keith Richards had given Burrito Bros. member Gram Parsons a demo tape of "Wild Horses" on 7 December 1969, the day after the Altamont Free Concert.

[20][page needed] The song has been covered extensively, including by Leon Russell, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, Natasha Bedingfield, Guns N'Roses, The Sundays and Susan Boyle.

Boyle performed "Wild Horses" on America's Got Talent in 2009, subsequently seeing her version peak at number ninety-eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts.

[21] Following her performance of "Wild Horses" on America's Got Talent in 2009, NBC remarked that Boyle's version was "a personal story about how achieving such massive success extremely quickly has affected her life".

Boyle claimed that her decision to record a version of "Wild Horses" was about her paying homage to the fact she was a "spectator looking out at the world" prior to her achieving fame, acknowledging that following her success she was now "part of that world", claiming that although it was daunting for her she was "ready to embrace it because I feel a bit more confident in myself now", further adding she was "more able to cope and more able to take part in the dream", a reference to her stay in rehab following her time on Britain's Got Talent.

Canadian Inuk musician Elisapie recorded a version of the song, Qimmijuat, translated into her indigenous Inuktitut language.