As the Rolling Stones entered hiatus, they released the live Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! in the fall of 1970. It was Rolling Stones last album for Decca/London, and they formed Rolling Stones Records, which became a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. Through 1970, Jagger starred in Nicolas Roeg's cult film presentation and married Nicaraguan model Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, and the couple rapidly entered high society. As Jagger was jet-setting, Richards was slumming, hanging out with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. Keith wound up have more musical influence on 1971's Sticky Fingers, the first album the Rolling Stones released though their new label. Next its release, the Rolling Stones band retreated to France on tax exile, where they shared a house and recorded a double album, Exile on Main St. Upon its May 1972 release, Exile on Main St. was extensively panned, but over time it came to be considered one of the group's defining moments.

Following Exile, the Rolling Stones began to splinter in two, as Jagger concentrated on being a celebrity and Richards sank into drug addiction. The Rolling Stones band remained popular throughout the '70s, but their critical support waned. Goats Head Soup, released in 1973, reach number one, as did 1974's It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, but neither record was particularly well received. Taylor left the band after its Only Rock 'n' Roll, and the group recorded their next album as The Rolling Stones auditioned new lead guitarists, including Jeff Beck. They lastly settled on Ron Wood, former lead guitarist for the Faces and Rod Stewart, in 1976, the same year The Rolling Stones released Black n' Blue, which only featured Wood on a handful of cuts. Throughout the mid- and late '70s, all the Stones pursued side projects, with both Wyman and Wood releasing solo albums with regularity. Richards was arrested in Canada in 1977 with his common-law wife Anita Pallenberg for heroin possession. After his arrest, he cleaned up and was given a balanced sentence the following year. The Rolling Stones band reconvened in 1978 to record Some Girls, an energetic response to punk, new wave, and disco. The record and its first single, the thumping disco-rocker "Miss You," both reached number one, and the album restored the Rolling Stones group's image. But, the group squandered that goodwill with the follow-up, Emotional Rescue, a number one record that nevertheless received lukewarm reviews upon its 1980 release. Tattoo you, released the following year, fared better both critically and commercially, as the singles "Start Me Up" and "Waiting on a Friend" helped the album spend nine weeks at number one. The Rolling Stones supported Tattoo You with an wide stadium tour captured in Hal Ashby's movie Let's Spend the Night jointly and the 1982 live album Still Life.

Tattoo You proved to be the last time the Rolling Stones totally dominated the charts and the stadiums. Although the group continued to sell out concerts in the '80s and '90s, their records didn't sell as well as preceding efforts, partially because the albums suffered due to Jagger and Richards' notorious mid-'80s feud. Starting with 1983's covertly, the duo conflicted about which way the band should go, with Jagger wanting the Stones to follow contemporary trend and Richards wanting them to stay true to their rock roots. As a result, in secret was a mean-spirited, unfocused record that received relatively weak sales and mixed reviews. Released in 1986, Dirty Work suffered a worse fate, since Jagger was worried with his fledgling solo career. Once Jagger decided that the Stones would not hold up Dirty Work with a tour, Richards decided to make his own solo record with 1988's Talk Is Cheap. Appearing a year after Jagger's failed second solo album, Talk Is Cheap received good reviews and went gold, prompting Jagger and Richards to reunite late in 1988. The following year, the Stones released Steel Wheels, which was received with good reviews, but the record was overshadowed by its behind tour, which grossed over 140 million dollars and broke many box office records. In 1991, the live album Flashpoint, which was culled from the Steel Wheels shows, was released.