Stones’ Drummer Charlie Watts Dies At 80
• Charlie Watts, whose strong but unflashy drumming powered The Rolling Stones for nearly 60 years, died on Tuesday, August 24 in a London hospital. He was 80.
Watts’ passing was announced in a statement by his publicist, Bernard Doherty, which reads, “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts. He passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family. Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also, as a member of The Rolling Stones, one of the greatest drummers of his generation. We kindly request that the privacy of his family, band members and close friends is respected at the difficult time.”
The Rolling Stones recently announced that Watts would be unable to participate in the upcoming U.S. leg of the band’s 13-date No Filter stadium tour after undergoing an unspecified emergency medical procedure, which the band’s representatives said had been successful. Grammy-winning musician and producer Steve Jordan, who had been a member of Keith Richards‘ side project, the X-pensive Winos was tapped to fill in for Watts.
As the New York Times coverage so perfectly stated, “Reserved, dignified and dapper, Mr. Watts was never as flamboyant, either onstage or off, as most of his rock-star peers, let alone the Stones’ lead singer, Mick Jagger; he was content to be one of the finest rock drummers of his generation, playing with a jazz-inflected swing that made the band’s titanic success possible. As the Stones guitarist Keith Richards said in his 2010 autobiography, Life, “Charlie Watts has always been the bed that I lie on musically.”
In the introduction to the 1991 edition of the drummer Max Weinberg‘s book The Big Beat, Bruce Springsteen said of Watts, “As much as Mick’s voice and Keith’s guitar, Charlie Watts’s snare sound is the Rolling Stones. When Mick sings, ‘It’s only rock ‘n’ roll but I like it,’ Charlie’s in back showing you why!”
Watts is survived by his wife of 57 years, Shirley Ann Shepherd; daughter, Seraphina; granddaughter, Charlotte and step-grandson, Dylan.
• Benztown has released an Audio Tribute to Charlie Watts, written and voiced by Bill Royal and produced by Mike Lindsay.
• SuiteRadio has also produced a special edition of its Long Live Rock show in tribute to Charlie Watts. The 25-minute show is available free of charge, with no barter or embedded commercials, for any format. To get the show, contact SuiteRadio’s Ed Moloney at 310-283-9407, or ed@suiteradio.net. Long Live Rock — A Tribute To Charlie Watts was written and produced by SuiteRadio’s Josh Holstead, and is hosted by the award-winning Donna McKenzie.
