The Rolling Stones entertained a massive crowd in Havana Friday night. They are the first international rock ‘n’ roll band to perform in the country to a live audience.
CCTV’s Sean Callebs brings us this report from the free concert there.
In the heat of Cuba’s revolution from the 1960s to the 1980s, foreign bands such as The Rolling Stones were considered subversive and blocked from the radio. Rock music such as the Stones’ wasn’t officially prohibited in public, but it was disapproved of. Cubans listened to their music in secret, passing records from hand to hand.
Coming two days after Barack Obama finished the first trip to Cuba by a U.S. President in nearly 90 years, Friday night’s free rock concert, called the biggest in the country’s history, cemented the communist-run island’s opening to the world.
Reporting by The Associated Press contributed to this report. Spotify playlists by CCTV America’s Matt Shirley.