Aged 286, Stones still make an exhibition of themselves
ONCE, parents were warned to lock up their daughters when the Rolling Stones came to town.
Last night – and with a combined age of 286 – the bandmates still looked ready to party. But the only daughters present were their own.
The Stones and a gaggle of family members were out in force in London for the opening of their first ever major exhibition, entitled Exhibitionism.
Keith Richards, 72, and Ronnie Wood, 68, looked the most rock’n’roll, with Wood in a leopardprint jacket and open-necked dress shirt, and Richards in a hat, bandanna and a chain on his wrist.
Mick Jagger, 72, and 74-year-old Charlie Watts were more soberly dressed, both in suits, with the always dapper Watts in a white waistcoat and Jagger wearing a long tasselled scarf.
Jagger’s model daughter Georgia May, 24, arrived in a pinstriped suit and massive yellow platform heels.
Richards’s daughters Theodora, 31, and Alexandra, 29, also turned out to support their father.
Bill Wyman, 79, who left the Stones in 1993, was there along with his wife, former model Suzanne Accosta, 46, and their daughters Katherine, 21, Jessica, 20, and 17year-old Matilda. Jessica wore an attention-grabbing crushed velvet ice-blue dress and completed the look with blue and mauve dreadlocks, blue lipstick and piercings.
As they gathered at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, Richards said: ‘We are the still the sexiest band in rock and roll. I’m not going to kick the bucket yet – there’s more juice in it yet.’
He added: ‘When I first thought about the exhibition I thought, “Oh the red carpet and all the bull****” but I’m feeling the warmth.’
The exhibition fills nine rooms and looks back at the life of the Stones since they formed in 1962. It includes the sights, sounds and smells of the recording studio in Barnes, South-West London, where the band recorded six albums including Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Beggars Banquet.
There will also be a guitar room and a recreation of an ‘about to go on stage’ experience.
In total there are more than 550 original Stones artefacts from never before seen dressing room and backstage paraphernalia to rare instruments; original stage designs, costumes, rare audio tracks and video footage; personal diaries; and poster and album cover artwork.
Speaking at the exhibition last night, Jagger – who with the Stones recently performed in Cuba – said he had no intention of retiring and revealed the band are working on more music. He said: ‘Just before Christmas we started doing a new album. You’ll be surprised.’