Charlie will be Rolling with us again soon, say Stones
CHARLIE Watts is to miss the Rolling Stones’ autumn US tour... but he’ll still be banging his drum for a comeback.
The band’s frontman Sir Mick Jagger said they looked forward to welcoming back Watts, 80, when he was well again.
A spokesman for Watts confirmed he was “unlikely to be available” for the band’s No Filter Tour.
The Stones are due to resume the gigs in September after Covid caused the tour to be postponed last year.
Watts underwent the unspecified procedure in London after doctors spotted a problem in a routine check-up.
In 2004 the drummer was treated for throat cancer at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital.
His spokesman said: “Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful.
“But I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.”
Watts will be replaced by Steve Jordan when the tour resumes in St Louis on September 26. Dates also include Pittsburgh, Nashville, Minneapolis and Dallas.
Sir Mick, 78, tweeted: “We really look forward to welcoming Charlie back as soon as he is fully recovered.
“Thank you to our friend Steve Jordan for stepping in, so we can still play all the shows for you this fall.”
In a statement, Watts said: “For once my timing has been a little off.
“I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while.
“After all the fans’ suffering caused by Covid I really do not want the many RS
fans who have been holding tickets for this tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation.
“I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me.”
Jordan called it an “absolute honour and privilege” to be Watts’ understudy. He said: No one will be happier than me to give up my seat on the drum-riser as soon as Charlie tells me he is good to go.”