Song · Mott the Hoople
“Roll Away The Stone” by Mott the Hoople
From the album The Hoople (1974)
“Roll Away The Stone” by Mott the Hoople appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 2020 and 2026. It was first released in 1974 on the album The Hoople. Its best result is #263 on the KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #6,875 indie & aaa song of all time.
Ian Hunter wrote "Roll Away the Stone", and the glam rockers of Mott the Hoople ended up cutting it twice. The single came first, made before Mick Ralphs quit, with Ralphs on lead guitar and one of the Thunderthighs taking the vocal bridge. The band plugged it on Top of the Pops in November 1973, and by December it had climbed to number eight in Britain. For The Hoople in 1974 they did it over, with Ariel Bender on the harmony lead line and Lynsey de Paul singing the bridge.
Record World called it an Easter-themed love letter and their biggest rocker since their first record for the label. It keeps coming back: the BBC set The Rock 'n' Roll Years' look at 1974's two general elections to it, and it turns up in the 2015 film The Diary of a Teenage Girl.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1558 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2026 | 263 | KSHE 95 | KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026) | 499 |
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