2000s

KEITH RICHARDS OFF HIS TREE > SUFFERS BRAIN INJURY

Pic from 1988 solo album Talk is Cheap
Pic from 1988 solo album Talk is Cheap

The Rolling Stones guitarist required brain surgery after falling from a tree > or part thereof > in April 2006, while holidaying in Fiji.

He underwent surgery at a hospital in New Zealand to relieve a blood clot on his bran, and was there for several weeks.

The accident caused a delay to the Rolling Stones tour of Europe.

Initial reports had Keith Richards falling from a coconut tree.

But he later told Rolling Stone magazine:  “It’s embarrassing, really. I was sitting on this gnarled shrub about six feet off the ground. I was wet – I’d been swimming. I hit the ground the wrong way, my head hit the trunk, and that was that.”

In a video message in late 2013 as part of the On Fire tour, Richards gave his thanks to the surgeons in New Zealand who treated him, remarking that >

“I left half my brain there.”

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I SNORTED MY DEAD FATHER’S ASHES > KEITH RICHARDS

Keith Richards on the cover of his 2015 solo album
Keith Richards on the cover of his 2015 solo album.

‘He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow’

That’s what Keith Richards told British music magazine NME (April, 2007).

“The strangest thing I’ve tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father,” Richrads said.

“My dad wouldn’t have cared, he couldn’t give a shit.

“It went down pretty well, and I’m still alive.”

The tabloid press soon had a field day with the story and outrage ensued.

Richards pissed on the fire a few weeks later by claiming he had just made it up.

There’s also a long-held belief that in 1973 Keith Richards had a complete blood transfusion > involving an embalming process > during drug addiction treatment in Switzerland to prepare for a Stones tour.

Richards many years later denied this, saying he just made it up as he was approached by the press at London airport.

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Keith Richards in Pirates of Caribbean movies

JohnnyDepp_KeithRichards_RollingStone_magazineJOHNNY DEPP BASED JACK SPARROW ON STONES GUITARIST

 

Rock and roll pirate Keith Richards appeared in 2007 Pirates of the Caribbean movie At Worlds End as Jack Sparrow’s father Captain Teague.

Actor Johnny Depp had previous stated that he based his Jack Sparrow character on Keith Richards, so it seemed like a natural fit.

“Pirates were the rock stars of their day,” Depp said.

“Their myths or legends would arrive months before they would ever make port, much like rock stars

“Having spent some time with Keith Richards was certainly a huge part of the inspiration for the character.

“I spent a little time with Keith here and there, and each time I’d see him he’d have a new thing tied into his hair. ‘What is that hanging?’ I’d ask, and Keith would say, ‘Ah yeah, I got that in Bermuda,’ or wherever.

“So it felt to me like Jack, on his travels and adventures, would see something and go, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll keep that,’ tie it in his hair or have someone else do it. Each little trinket would have a story.”

Keith Richards, who reprised his Captain Teague role in 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean movie On Stranger Tides, said: “It’s about freedom, baby. Open the cage, let the tigers out.

“Somebody’s gotta do the naughty work. It’s not so much about destroying the establishment. It’s to prevent them from destroying you.”

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RONNIE WOOD HAS RUSSIAN LOVE AFFAIR

Ron Wood on the cover of his solo single Sure The One You Need from 1974, before he'd even joined the Stones.
Ron Wood on the cover of his solo single Sure The One You Need from 1974, before he’d even joined the Stones.

MAKE IT A DOUBLE DATE > COCKTAIL WAITRESS … AND VODKA

Guitarist Ronnie Wood, then aged in his early 6os, took up with a barely out of her teens > if that > Russian cocktail waitress in 2008, leaving his wife of 23 years, Jo, and their four children.

He was reported to have met Ekaterina Ivanova at an escort bar in London’s Soho district.

And that’s not his only liking for things Russian > Wood battling an alcohol problem at the time, drinking two bottles of vodka a day.

Wood’s publicist told London’s Daily Mail: “She is a drinking partner. When you’re an alcoholic and your family are all telling you to stop drinking you simply find someone else to drink with. You can see how it happens, you end up pushing away the ones you love because you don’t think straight. He’s fallen off the wagon big time. He’s spiralling out of control and every time he returns to his drinking it’s worse than before. He’s not even clear-headed enough to check himself into rehab.”

Surprise, surprise > the new relationship didn’t last long > and ended ugly.

Ronnie Wood accepted a police caution in December 2009 for allegedly attacking Ekaterina Ivanova after a fierce row. He allegedly dragged her down a London street, slapped and throttled her.

Wood eventually admitted himself into rehab to battle his alcohol addiction in 2008 > and again in 2010 > for the eight time.

* Some source material from London’s Daily Mail.

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MICK JAGGER FASHION DESIGNER GIRLFRIEND SUICIDES

Mick Jagger on the cover of his solo album Wandering Spirit
Mick Jagger on the cover of his solo album Wandering Spirit.

ROLLING STONES CANCEL AUSTRALIAN TOUR AS JAGGER RUSHES BACK TO NEW YORK

Mick Jagger’s partner of more than 10 years, New York fashion designer L’Wren Scott, was found dead in her luxury Manahttan apartment on March 17, 2014. She committed suicide at the age of 49, Jagger aged 70 at the time.

It was reported that her fashion company had debts of over US$5million and she put a mortgage, unbeknown to Jagger, of over $1 million on her almost $5 million apartment, said to have been paid for by the Rolling Stones frontman.

The Rolling Stones had just arrived on their private jet in Perth to kick off an Australian and New Zealand tour. Mick Jagger quickly flew back to New York and the tour was rescheduled for October-November of 2014.

L’Wren Scott’s small, private funeral service was held at Hollywood Forever Cemetry in Los Angeles. At a later packed memorial service at St Bartholomew’s Church in New York, Mick Jagger sung the Bob Dylan song Just Like A Woman in tribute.

The Australian tour was rescheduled and then cancelled after Mick Jagger was beset by throat problems.

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HISTORIC FREE CONCERT IN CUBA

ROLLING STONES FIRST MAIN BAND TO LET IT ROCK IN HAVANACuba_concert_poster

With Cuba opening its doors and relations with America in a thaw, the Rolling Stones played a free, open-air concert in Cuban capital Havana on March 25, 2016, to hundreds of thousands of people. Some even estimated the crowd at half a million.

The historic concert came three days after US President Barack Obama wrapped up an historic visit to the island during which he declared an end to what was left of the cold war with communist-run Cuba.

“We know that years ago, it was difficult to listen to our music in Cuba, but now here we are in your beautiful land,” Jagger told the crowd in Spanish. “I think that, finally, the times are changing. That’s true, no?” The crowd roared their agreement, reported London’s The Guardian newspaper.

At the height of the Cuban revolution, which started in the 1960s, bands such as the Rolling Stones were seen as a threat to communist ideology, and their songs banned from being played on radio and their records also banned.

 

 

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TONGUE AT CRUTCH OF ‘TOO LEWD’ POSTER

The replacement poster close up > that's much more betterer.
The replacement poster close up > that’s much more betterer.
The offending artwork
The offending artwork

EXHIBITION PROMO RUN AGROUND ON LONDON TRANSPORT

A poster promoting a Rolling Stones art exhibit was deemed too lewd for London’s public transport system.

The poster had been placed on city buses and the London subway for an exhibition titled Exhibitionism kicking off at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea in April, 2016.

The “too lewd” artwork features a female model’s midsection and bikini bottoms with the Rolling Stones’  tongue logo.

It was replaced with a new poster that merely moved the tongue logo up to the model’s navel.

A Rolling Stones spokesman said > “We are dumbfounded and perplexed at this rather silly decision. Perhaps something to do with the fact that it’s the Rolling Stones and controversy still seems to follow them everywhere.”

The exhibit is set to tour the world and features band memorabilia including unseen videos and audio files, plus about 500 posters, photos, stage designs and instruments played by the Stones. It is the first ever exhibition of personal items from band members.

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Rolling Stones pump out the kids

TWIN PEAK: Ron Wood and wife Sally Humphreys on the cover of hello magazine
TWIN PEAK: Ron Wood and wife Sally Humphreys on the cover of hello magazine

OH BABY, WE GOT A GOOD THING GOING >

Mick Jagger, aged 72, baby No.8, with 29-year-old partner
Ron Wood, 68, celebrates having twin daughters

American ballerina Melanie Hamrick, 29, is expecting a baby with long-time lothario Mick Jagger, is was announced in July, 2016

Jagger, 72, and Hamrick have been in a relationship since 2014 and seen each other regularly over the past two years, London’s The Sun newspaper reported.

This comes about two months after Rolling Stones guitarist rockin’ Ronnie Wood, 68,  welcomed twins on board with third wife Sally Humphreys, 38.

Wood said: “Mick popped in on the third day. He couldn’t wait, I put one in each arm and took a photo.”

Humphries and Wood appeared on the front cover of Hello magazine with the twins.

“I’m the burper, walker, nappy changer and I’m still trying to work out when I can get to sleep in between all that. I have played the guitar to them and when I get round to it I will do some drawings,” Wood, also a renowned artist, told Hello magazine

The twins brought Wood’s children tally to six, while Jagger’s pending arrival will be his eight child, with five different women.

Wood celebrated his 69th birthday soon after the twins’ arrival and Jagger, born on July 26, will be 73 by the time his latest baby arrives.

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