Legendary executive and co-founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, died as a result of a head injury he sustained from falling backstage at the opening night of the two day concert series and their subsequent filming. The film closes with a dedication to him. Eerily enough, this is not the only death to result from an incident that took place during the filming of a Rolling Stones concert documentary. In 1969 a fan named Meredith Hunter was stabbed and beaten by members of the Hell's Angels who were hired as security at the now infamous free concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway. This tragic event was captured during the filming of another famous Stones concert documentary, "Gimme Shelter (1970)."
The two Rolling Stones concerts filmed for "Shine a Light" took place at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan. It is their second film to be shown in the IMAX format. Because of a lack of appropriate IMAX cinemas in Manhattan upon the release of the IMAX film "At The Max" in 1991, the film had to be shown at a non-conventional venue: the Beacon Theatre.
Mick Jagger originally pitched the idea to shoot the film on the beach in Rio De Janeiro, capturing the Stones during a massive free concert as part of their Bigger Bang world tour. Martin Scorsese thought about it and even considered shooting the film in IMAX 3D format before coming to the decision to shoot the film in the more intimate Beacon Theater. According to Scorsese, this setting was much closer to his sensibilities.
As Keith Richards sings "You Got the Silver," he wears a trench-coat with a pirate pin on the collar. This is a gift from working on "Piratas del Caribe: En el fin del mundo (2007)."
Martin Scorsese: [tracking shot] Uses a tracking shot to follow the main characters through a hallway.