Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, is 'unlikely' to join the band's U.S. tour in 2021.
According to a statement from a Stones representative, Charlie Watts, the band's drummer since its formation in 1962, is "unlikely to be available" for the band's rescheduled U.S. tour this autumn.
According to the statement, Watts, who turned 80 in June, recently underwent an unnamed but "totally successful" medical operation.
The 13-city “No Filter” tour kicks off Sept. 26 in St. Louis and will include veteran drummer Steve Jordan, who has played extensively with Stones co-founder Keith Richards.
“For once, my timing has been a touch off,” Watts said in a statement. I'm working hard to get totally fit, but I've recognized that it will take some time, based on professional advice. I don't want the numerous RS fans who have been holding tickets for this Tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation after the fans' agony caused by Covid. As a result, I've asked my good buddy Steve Jordan to fill in for me.”
“Charlie has had a treatment that was totally successful, but I hear his physicians this week determined that he now needs adequate rest and recuperation,” the spokesman added. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing, to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.”
Jordan stated, "Being Charlie's understudy is an amazing honor and a privilege, and I am looking forward to rehearsing alongside Mick, Keith, and Ronnie." No one will be happier than me to give up my drum-riser position as soon as Charlie says he's ready.”
Richards and Watts have been at the heart of the Rolling Stones' instrumental sound since the band's inception: Richards spends about half of the band's concerts turning around, facing Watts, bobbing his head to the drummer's beat. Indeed, without vocalists Mick Jagger, Richards, and Watts, the Rolling Stones aren't the Rolling Stones.
Watts is distinct from Bill Wyman, the group's bassist for 30 years, who left in December 1992. “For all of Mick and Keith's domination, there's no doubt that the heart of this band is and will always be Watts,” according to a 2012 review of a Rolling Stones event. His whipcrack snare and uncanny sense of swing, at 71, embody the paradoxical uptight-laid-back-ness that is at the core of the Stones' rhythm.”
Unlike some other Stones members, Watts has remained relatively healthy during the band's six-decade existence, appearing on nearly all of the group's official albums.In 2004, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, which he overcame, and in the 1980s, he battled substance misuse, which he also overcame.
Watts has never been a showy drummer, but keeping the rhythm for “The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band” for a two-hour concert — let alone in a stadium — is a feat of physical endurance. Even still, his news surprised even the group's greatest fan bases, and in the hours after the announcement, social media was flooded with good wishes and worry for him.
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