The Time Dave Matthews Forgot Lyrics While Performing With The Rolling Stones

In July 1998, Dave Matthews Band opened for The Rolling Stones for a series of concerts in Europe. On a night in Amsterdam, frontman Dave Matthews, whose 58th birthday is today, had a memorable experience when his memory failed him while sitting in with The Stones.

Matthews was brought out during The Rolling Stones’ headlining set on July 1, 1998, at the Amsterdam Arena. Matthews joined The Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger in singing “Memory Motel,” with guitarist Keith Richards also handling a verse.

Matthews ended up singing “Memory Motel” with The Rolling Stones at two additional concerts at Amsterdam Arena. The third collaboration in The Netherlands was captured on The Stones’ 1998 live album, No Security.

In 2018, Matthews appeared as a guest on the Howard Stern Show and was asked about his experience with The Rolling Stones. Matthews told host Howard Stern a funny and nerve-racking story about the initial performance of “Memory Motel,” which Stern said was his favorite Rolling Stones song.

Assured ahead of time by Jagger that he could rely on teleprompters, Matthews expected to have readily accessible lyrics to the song off The Rolling Stones 1976 album, Black And Blue. As Matthews explained to Stern, when it came time to sing “Memory Motel,” his memory was vacant and the teleprompters did little to help the situation.

“I went out and [Jagger] sung the first verse,” Matthews recalled. “I can see out of the side of my face, and we’re sharing a mic, and I can the words to the song going past over there and I can see his verse going past. I’m looking at my teleprompter and my teleprompter says: ‘Memory Motel.’”

When asked by Stern if he had memorized the lyrics to “Memory Motel,” Matthews revealed he had not and was instead at the mercy of the failed teleprompter.

“It’s empty, it’s as if I’ve never uttered a word in my life,” Matthews said about trying to recall the lyrics. “So I just made up words.”

After the sit-in, Matthews asked Jagger if he managed to get any of the words right. The legendary frontman seemingly thought Matthews did well enough and decided to give him two more chances at getting the words right.

Watch Matthews talk about the memorable time he forgot the words to “Memory Motel,” as well as the subsequent sit-in with the correct lyrics, below:

[Originally Published January 9, 2024]