HIS BAND OPENED FOR THE STONES

Marc Hansen, co-founder and lead vocalist of the San Diego-based band Electric Mud, has always had a passion for music. Growing up on Staten Island, Hansen and his brother started the rock band with some friends, borrowing the name from the title of a Muddy Waters album.

After studying Illustration at FIT and a stint as a Navy SEAL, Hansen decided to devote his career to music. He and his brother resurrected Electric Mud, bringing on a guitarist they had met in the Navy, their cousin on bass, and a co-founder of the original band on guitar and keyboard. Their songs are high on energy, grit, and yearning, with serious road-trip vibes. Hansen himself has the laid-back demeanor of a rock star, yet he is also affable and attentive. His red hair often springs from under a colorful bandanna.

Marc Hansen, co-founder and lead vocalist of the San Diego-based band Electric Mud.

The Rolling Stones is their biggest influence, and in 2022, in hopes of being selected as an opening act for a future concert, Electric Mud submitted their music and other information through the Hansens’ aunt, who is married to Keith Richards. They heard nothing for more than a year and assumed they never would. Then, out of the blue, the Stones’ team reached out. The legendary band would be switching opening acts for every show on their 2024 Hackney Diamonds Tour, and they wanted to add Electric Mud to the roster.

Electric Mud members with Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones at the 2024 Hackney Diamonds Tour.

On May 7, in Glendale, Arizona, Electric Mud—which had never performed in a stadium—opened for the Stones in a 65,000-seat venue. The band played to a crowd of fans and family, including friends from Staten Island. A video on Electric Mud’s Instagram shows the group playing in the colossal stadium to whoops and cheers, awash in cool blue light. Afterward, they got a boost in streams, merch sales, and media attention.

Following their performance—and a 40-piece mariachi band—Hansen watched the Stones from the pit with his family. “I was in heaven,” he says. Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Ronnie Wood played some of his favorite songs, including “She’s So Cold” and “Tumbling Dice.”

“We all just had this sparkle,” he says. “We were doing this thing that was so epic to us, and we went up there and just did it. We were just elated. We were actually part of the show. That’s a dream come true.”