Ex-Stone Bill talks success and doubt ahead of auction
HE may be a former member of the Rolling Stones but Bill Wyman says he has always battled with a lack of confidence.
The former bassist told the Sunday Independent that keeping busy has combated his inner critic.
“Self-doubt has always been something that I have had, owing to being a small man, a poor working-class boy and sensitive,” he said.
As he prepares to auction his collection of Stones memorabilia, which will be displayed at Newbridge Silverware on Tuesday, he describes how living the roller-coaster life of a rock star has taught him to “always trust my loved ones” who he feels “blessed to have”.
In his later years
Wyman (83) says he understood “never to neglect the small things in life, as they lead on to the big important things later”.
In 2016, the musician battled prostate cancer but he says: “Surprisingly, I was not nervous when I was diagnosed.
“I was very confident that the treatment would be successful, as it had been for other people. I was lucky to have one of the top professors in England to treat me.”
The legend recently admitted he was “really stupid” to think marrying Mandy Smith when she was 18 would work. There was a 34-year age gap between them. “It was from the heart. It wasn’t lust, which people were seeing it as,” Wyman said.
On his celebrity friends, he recalls getting “very drunk” in the south of France with Bono and said he still meets fellow bassist Adam Clayton “very regularly” for dinner.
Wyman has worked with Van Morrison and rates Bob Geldof “as one of my very closest and warmest friends” but it was Imelda May who he asked to take to the main stage to ring in his 80th birthday party in the O2.
He counts Irish fans among the best and describes their welcome as “more like a welcome for the queen, rather than for an R&B band” and puts his success with the Stones down to being tuned in to those he worked with.
“My own personal secret ingredient to success was to always be aware of what Charlie Watts was doing on the drums, and locking into his timing precisely, to create the foundation of the song — in whatever tempo — for the rest of the band to build on that solid base because, with that there, everybody else could do whatever they wished.
“My second ingredient was to play as simple as possible on the bass, although still leaving space for anybody else to add to the music, and playing the music I love.”
With Julien’s Auctions, Newbridge Silverware will exhibit Wyman’s collection of guitars, including his 1969 Fender Mustang Bass and a Brian Jones Les Paul Gibson Goldtop and case that has an estimate of $300,000 (€265,000).
The Travis Bean Custom Short Scale Bass Koa has a $300,000 estimate, while Wyman’s gold and black satin two-piece stage ensemble worn in the 1970s from London boutique Mr Freedom will also be on display.
The exhibition opens this Tuesday and runs until April 20. The property will be auctioned by Julien’s Auctions in California from May 29-31.