Stones’ Keith Richards getting satisfaction from playing (mostly) sober
For us mere mortals, slowing down on our partying ways and cutting back on alcohol consumption usually occurs in our 30s, 40s and perhaps as late as our 50s.
For rock god Keith Richards it’s happening as a septuagenerian.
The Rolling Stones guitarist told Rolling Stone that he has finally gone sober at the age of 74. “It’s been about a year now,” Richards told the publication. “I pulled the plug on it. I got fed up with it.”
A bit of clarification: Richards, who turns 75 next week, admitted that although mostly sober, he does allow himself “a glass of wine occasionally, and a beer.”
Still even by the rock ’n’ roll sliding scale, 74 is an advanced age for finding sobriety. Richards cemented his reputation as a fast-living, hard-drinking, teetering-on-the-edge rogue in the 1970s following a number of high-profile drug busts.
But those days, he says, are behind him now. “It was time to quit (alcohol),” Richards says. “Just like all the other stuff.”
Ronnie Wood, who battled substance abuse issues himself before coming clean in 2010, has noticed that his bandmate has been more agreeable of late. “He’s a pleasure to work with,” Wood told Rolling Stone. At 71 years old, Wood is the baby of the Stones.
“Much more mellow. He’s open to more ideas, whereas before I’d kind of grit my teeth and go, ‘He’s gonna give me some (expletive) for saying this.’ Now, he’ll say, ‘That’s cool, man.’ ” Wood added, “I think the Keith that we used to know and love had this cutoff point where if he had one more, he’d go over the top and he’d be nasty. The cutoff point became shorter and shorter, you know, and he realized that.”
Said Richards, “It was interesting to play sober.”
The Rolling Stones’ Bay Area fans will get a chance to see Richards and Wood’s newfound stage chemistry when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band — which also includes frontman Mick Jagger and drummer Charlie Watts — bring their “No Filter” tour to Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium on May 18.
“Maybe this will be the last (tour),” Richards told Rolling Stone. “It’s what I do, man. Give me 50,000 people and I feel right at home. As Ronnie and I often say before we go on, ‘Let’s get onstage and get some peace and quiet.’ ”