Keith Richards turns 80. The ups and downs of a rock legend

“I really always wanted to have an ordinary, quiet life. It just didn’t work out,” Keith Richards confessed in his 2010 autobiography “Life”. He was born on December 18, 1943 in Dartford, South England. He was 15 years old when he received his first guitar from his mother. He met Mick Jagger in primary school, but their lives were decided by one chance meeting. The young musicians bumped into each other in October 1961 at Dartford railway station. They started talking about blues and discovered that they had a great musical passion in common. Soon, Richards, along with Jagger and bassist Brian Jones, formed the band The Rolling Stones. In 1963, drummer Charlie Watts joined the band.

SEE ALSO: The great return of The Rolling Stones

In the same year, the Stones signed a contract with Decca. From the very beginning, Richards was not only the guitarist, but also the co-creator of the band’s songs, including their biggest hits – “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, “Angie”, and “Brown Sugar”. Over the course of over 60 years, The Rolling Stones have played over 2,000 times. concerts and have sold over 240 million records worldwide. They have released 31 studio albums and 13 live albums. Additionally, Richards has released three solo albums.

Richards has been famous for his stage image for decades. Tousled hair, colorful headbands on the forehead, bracelets made of beads and beads on the wrists. He also turned out to be an inspiration for others. Johnny Depp he once admitted that Jack Sparrow’s wardrobe from “Pirates of the Caribbean” was inspired by the style of Keith Richards. He played Sparrow’s father in one of the films in the series.

Although at some point fashion houses such as Luois Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent became interested in the musician, he himself claims that he is not interested in fashion at all. He likes to wear clothes made by his wife, model Patti Hansen, with whom they have been in a successful marriage for 40 years. They have two daughters, Theodora Dupree and Alexandra Nicole.

For many years, the media wrote about Richards’ addictions, and he repeatedly admitted to his love of alcohol and drugs. In his autobiography about addiction, he wrote briefly: “I liked being high” and revealed that in 1978 he gave up using heroin, and in 2006 – after falling from a tree in Fiji – from cocaine.

In the 1970s, he and his partner Anita Pallenberg were on a drug addiction. The couple, who had been together for over a decade until the end of the 1970s, experienced tragedy in 1976 when their tiny child suddenly died. Richards later admitted in his autobiography that he felt guilty about going on tour and leaving the newborn with his addicted mother.

SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift is Person of the Year 2023

Despite the ups, downs and subsequent reports about retired, Richards does not leave the stage. The Rollings Stones released a new album, “Hackney Diamonds”, in October and announced a tour in 2024. A musician’s longevity is an integral part of his image and is the subject of dozens of articles and memes. Like when God presents Eve to Adam, and when asked about Richards, he states that “he was already here when he came to this place.”

Some jokingly note that Richards’s longevity must be due to a pact with the devil, who was the hero of Stones’ songs.

– We will never give up. They will have to throw us into the grave, he said in one of the interviews. “I don’t have any problem with aging so far,” he admitted in a recent interview with The Telegraph. – I have come to terms with the thought that I am 80 years old and still walking, still talking. “I think (aging) is a fascinating process,” he added.

SEE ALSO: Mick Jagger turns 80. “Absolute world champion when it comes to longevity on stage”