‘Sensible’ Stone leaves family a fortune
T he Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts reportedly left a fortune of more than $50 million to his family.
The legendary drummer passed away in August 2021 aged 80 and passed on $57m to his wife, Shirley, and their daughter, Seraphina. According to The Sun newspaper, the total does not include the value of Watts’ estate in France, thought to be worth millions more. UK probate papers seen by the publication show that most of the musician’s fortune will go to his wife, Shirley.
However, he ordered his vehicles — some of which he never drove — to be handed out according to his wishes, which will never be made public. The 14-page document also reportedly tells his executors to use income to support his beneficiaries as they choose. When Shirley dies, the fortune will reportedly be passed on to their daughter, Seraphina, Watts’ sister, Linda Rootes, his sisters-in-law Jackie Fenwick and Jill Minder and brother-in-law Stephen Shepherd.
Watts was due to tour the US with the band last year as part of their No Filter tour. But it was announced he would not feature as he needed to recover from emergency surgery.
He is the first long-stay member of the Stones to die of age-related illness. Founder and leader of the Stones, Brian Jones, died in 1969 from accidental drowning, shortly after being kicked out of the band.
Watts had played with the Stones since 1963 and appeared on every album. He met Shirley before the band became successful and married her in 1964. They lived near Dolton, in Devon, where they ran a successful Arab horse stud.
Despite his bandmates being known for their wild antics, Watts was known as the “sensible member”. The drumming hero quit smoking in the late 1980s but developed throat cancer in
2004, which had been successfully treated with radiotherapy.