- Title: Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts dies at 80
- Date: 24th August 2021
- Summary: NARITA, JAPAN (FILE - MARCH 6, 2003) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CHARTERED JUMBO JET TAXING IN AT TOKYO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CHARLIE WATTS (RIGHT) AND RONNIE WOOD WALKING OUT OF AIRCRAFT, WOOD SAYING (English): "It's great. Wonderful." WATTS WALKING / JAGGER BEING GIVEN FLOWER BOUQUETS BY FAN, WAVING TO THE CROWDS SHANGHAI, CHINA (FILE - APRIL 6, 2006) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) WIDE OF BAND'S PRIVATE CHARTER FLIGHT CARRYING ROLLING STONES BAND MEMBERS MOVING ON THE TARMAC CHINESE GROUND STAFF WAITING ON TARMAC CHARLIE WATTS AND RON WOOD STEPPING OFF AIRPLANE, WALKING BY AND WAVING TO PEOPLE BERLIN, GERMANY (FILE - FEBRUARY 13, 2008) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) THE ROLLING STONES POSING WITH MARTIN SCORSESE AT BERLIN FESTIVAL PREMIERE OF "SHINE A LIGHT" LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - APRIL 2, 2008) (REUTERS) STONES POSING FOR PHOTO AND WATTS WALKING OFF (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROLLING STONE, CHARLIE WATTS, SAYING "He means I'm that old. Don't let that fool you I know what he's up to." NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY 11, 2010) (REUTERS) ROLLING STONES' CHARLIE WATTS, MICK JAGGER AND KEITH RICHARDS (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) AT THE SCREENING OF THE NEW DOCUMENTARY "STONES IN EXILE" NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - NOVEMBER 13, 2012) (REUTERS) ROLLING STONES BAND MEMBERS POSING FOR PICTURES ON THE RED CARPET FOR NEW DOCUMENTARY FILM, "CROSSFIRE HURRICANE" WATTS SPEAKING TO REPORTER/ RICHARDS AND WOOD BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHARLIE WATTS, THE ROLLING STONES BAND MEMBER, ON WATCHING THE FILM, SAYING: "Myself, from start to finish really, hate it, that's why I don't watch them, I haven't seen this thing you know." LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - JULY 12, 2013) (REUTERS) ROLLING STONES ARRIVE AT EVENT MARKING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BANDS' FIRST PERFORMANCE VARIOUS OF ROLLING STONES POSING FOR PHOTOS (LEFT TO RIGHT CHARLIE WATTS, KEITH RICHARDS, RONNIE WOOD AND MICK JAGGER) JERUSALEM (FILE - JUNE 3, 2014) (REUTERS) ROLLING STONES DRUMMER CHARLIE WATTS SIGNING ALBUM FOR SEIDEL ONLOOKER TAKING PHOTO (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROLLING STONES DRUMMER, CHARLIE WATTS, IN RESPONSE TO QUESTION ABOUT TRIP TO ISRAEL, SAYING: "Oh, it's wonderful, yeah, yeah. Some very nice people." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROLLING STONES DRUMMER CHARLIE WATTS, IN RESPONSE TO QUESTION ABOUT UPCOMING CONCERT, SAYING: "Oh, god, I don't know about that, well, I just hope it's ok, that's all. Thank you." WOOD ACCOMPANIED BY BODYGUARDS AND ISRAELI BORDER POLICE WALKING ACROSS PLAZA PEOPLE WALKING ACROSS PLAZA NEXT TO JERUSALEM'S WESTERN WALL AND DOME OF THE ROCK HAVANA, CUBA (FILE - MARCH 24, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ROLLING STONES APPEARING AT AEROPLANE DOOR AND WAVING/WALKING DOWN STEPS/SPEAKING TO THE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICK JAGGER, ROLLING STONES BAND MEMBER, STANDING NEXT TO WATTS ON LEFT, SAYING: "Time changes everything. We're very pleased to be here. I'm sure it's going to be a great show tomorrow (LOOKS AT WATTS FOR CONFIRMATION). We had better get ready. We put a set list together. So I think it's great. We're very pleased to be here." CUBAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICK JAGGER, SAYING: "I think it's going to be good because as you say they haven't had any (RONNIE WOOD: Treading new ground) big shows before and it would have been surprising ten years ago for this to happen, and anyone who has been here a long time knows that." PLANE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICK JAGGER, SAYING: "I think he (U.S. President Barack Obama) made a very good impression here. He made (KEITH RICHARDS SAYS:) 'A great front man' (JAGGER SAYING: 'Yes, a great front man. He made a very good impression. He said some very interesting things and he was very charming and we're very pleased to be here after him." ROLLING STONES WALKING AWAY WITH RON WOOD SAYING, "I HOPE IT MEANS A LOT TO THEM" REFERRING TO REPORTER QUESTION: "WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOUNG PEOPLE" NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - NOVEMBER 15, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE ROLLING STONES BAND MEMBERS POSING FOR PICTURES (LEFT TO RIGHT: RONNIE WOOD, KEITH RICHARDS, MICK JAGGER AND CHARLIE WATTS)/ WATTS SMILING
- Embargoed: 7th September 2021 18:32
- Keywords: A Bigger Bang Bill Wyman Charlie watts Crossfire Hurricane Cuba Exhibitionism Havana Keith Richards Martin Scorsese Mick Jagger Mick Taylor Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood Shine A Light drummer rock band rockers
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- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PART AUDIO AS INCOMING
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PART CONTAINS FLASHING IMAGERY AND FOOTAGE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, widely regarded as one of the coolest men in rock, a jazz enthusiast and snappy dresser during nearly 60 years with the band, has died, his spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday (August 24).
He was 80 years old.
"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," the spokesperson said.
"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."
Among the first British bands to properly break the American market and a symbol of 1960s London, the Rolling Stones lineup of Watts, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman produced an extensive string of major hit records. The Stones also went on to break records with multimillion-pound grossing global tours that continue to this day.
Watts played drums on all of the group's 30 albums and on every tour, until he pulled out of the 13-date "No Filter" U.S. tour due to start this September after an emergency medical procedure.
"God bless Charlie Watts, we're going to miss you man, peace and love to the family, Ringo," former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr tweeted.
Watts was born in 1941 during World War Two and grew up in the Wembley area of northwest London, attending Harrow school of Art before starting work as a graphic artist with an advertising agency.
Unlike his bandmates, Watts had been in a successful group before agreeing to join the Rolling Stones in 1963. He married Shirley Ann Shepherd in 1964 and they remained together until his death - the first regular member of the band to pass away since Jones in 1969.
While holding down the day job, Watts played in the evenings with Blues Incorporated led by Alexis Korner, alongside future Cream bassist Jack Bruce. He was replaced by future Cream drummer Ginger Baker when he left.
He played his first gig with the Stones at the Ealing Blues Club in West London with the six piece band that included pianist Ian Stewart, Wyman on bass and Jones on guitar.
Watts left the hell-raising that defined the Stones in the 1960s and '70s to the other members, but provided the heartbeat of the band, and with Wyman was considered one of the great rock rhythm sections.
"Charlie Watts was the ultimate drummer," Elton John posted on Twitter, calling this a very sad day. "The most stylish of men, and such brilliant company. My deepest condolences to Shirley, Seraphina and Charlotte. And of course, The Rolling Stones," he added mentioning Watts' wife, daughter and granddaughter.
Away from the Rolling Stones, Watts found the time to play jazz with several groups including a 32-piece band, the Charlie Watts Orchestra, as well as to work with pianist Stewart in the band Rocket 88 during the 1980s.
In the 1990s, the Charlie Watts Quintet released several albums, including a tribute to jazz great Charlie Parker. In 2004, the quintet expanded to become Charlie Watts and the Tentet.
While his bandmates entertained groupies on an epic scale, Watts indulged instead - he once told a radio interviewer - in a compulsive habit of sketching every new hotel room he occupied.
He did speak of a short period in the 1980s when he tried to deal with a mid-life crisis by bingeing on drink and drugs. "It was very short for me. I just stopped, it didn't suit me at all," he told the Daily Mirror newspaper in 2012.
"I drank too much and took drugs. I went mad really. But I stopped it all. It was very easy for me."
In 2004, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, despite having quit smoking in the late 1980s, and underwent a course of radiotherapy. The cancer went into remission, and he returned to recording and touring with the Stones.
Despite newspaper accounts of a drunken spat with Jagger in the 1980s over whether the singer or the drummer was more important to a group, Watts was in a magnanimous mood when he spoke to the Guardian newspaper in 2013.
"Mick is the show, really, we back him," he said, adding however, "but Mick wouldn't dance well if the sound was bad."
Watts was always known as a keen shopper and a snappy dresser. The Daily Telegraph once named him one of the World's Best Dressed Men and in 2006 Vanity Fair inducted him into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.
"It's supposed to be sex and drugs and rock and roll," he once said. "I'm not really like that."
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