You might be surprised to find out that Keith Richards is only 71 years old. But you’d probably be more surprised to find out that Keith Richards is still alive at all. Because—to borrow a phrase that is tossed around too liberally in almost every instance except this one—Keith Richards is Rock and Roll. The dude has lived a hard, raucous life. So wild, in fact, that the hard-partying character often overshadows the legendary musician. Says Richards, in his latest interview for GQ, “I guess it makes me chuckle in a way, to have this sort of split thing where on the one hand I'm just a musician who makes records, but I've also got this cartoon character, this extra guy riding around with me.” (Which, of course, is hard to avoid when you do things like snort your father’s ashes. Again, read the piece.)
But then you remember, oh yeah, the dude was in The Rolling freaking Stones. And despite first starting with them in 1962, he just put out a solo album, Crosseyed Heart, in September of this year. So what was it that helped give birth to the Rolling Stones, the album that means as much to Keith Richards as any piece of music he’s listened to and made over all those years?
He tells us here.
Crazy to think that without Muddy Waters, there might never have been The Rolling Stones.