Stephen Moyes Simon Cosyns
22:00, 13 Sep 2021


THE funeral of Rolling Stone ­Charlie Watts took place last week — without his bandmates present.

Sadly, Sir Mick Jagger, 78 Keith Richards, 77, and Ronnie Wood, 74, were not able to attend the small private ceremony in Devon.


Because of Covid restrictions, they were forced to stay in Boston where they have been rehearsing for the Stones’ rescheduled US tour.

It starts on September 26 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Respecting the wishes of his family, Watts’ secret funeral took place with the minimum fuss, in keeping with the 80-year-old drummer’s character.

An insider said the Stones would pay tribute to their fallen bandmate at the upcoming shows and were also planning a celebration of his life later this year in the UK.

It was announced on August 5 that the drummer, who joined the rock legends in 1963, would be absent from the tour.

Over the past couple of weeks, the rest of the band have been rehearsing in the States with stand-in Steve Jordan, 64, who received the blessing of Watts.


In a statement, Watts had said: “After all the disappointment with delays to the tour caused by Covid, I really don’t want the many Stones fans in the States to have another postponement or cancellation.

“I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me.”

Watts, who died on August 24, was married to his beloved wife Shirley for 57 years right up until his death in a London hospital. The couple had one daughter, Seraphina, 53, and one granddaughter, Charlotte, 24.

Tributes poured in from around the world. Jagger shared a photograph on social media of a laughing Watts behind his drum kit.

And Richards, who called him “the coolest guy I know,” put up a picture of a set of drums bearing a “closed” sign.

Sir Paul McCartney, 79, a member of the Stones’ chief rivals in the Sixties, The Beatles, remembered a “fantastic drummer” who was “as steady as a rock.”

Born in London as World War II raged, Watts trained as a graphic designer and eschewed the jet set lifestyle of his fellow Stones when not on tour.

He lived in Devon for many years where he owned a stud farm and was known as a natty dresser, a jazz lover . . . and, of course, an ace drummer.


Link :
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/16128811/rolling-stones-drummer-bandmate-c...


Other links to the same story this morning :

Daily Mail :

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9987459/The-Rolling-Stones-forced-...


Daily Mirror :

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/charlie-watts-devastated-rolling-sto...


Daily Express :

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1490951/Rolling-Stones-Charlie-Watts-fu...

They, undoubtedly, wanted to attend, and it's very sad that they weren't able to end, but at least his family and loved ones who were able to attend could do so in relative peace and without having to worry about being photographed and having to try to make themselves look good for a bunch of tosspot paparazzi.

'As well as being projected on to big screens, the new design is to be used on merchandise and around tour visuals'

Quel surprise. Who was it who described death as a great career move? 

Sam is a very nice guy.

This has been posted on the board before but it's a wonderful look into Charlie in a private setting. Some great conversation about Keith mixed in as well. Just a wonderful bit about him, Stan Levey, and Jim Keltner

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Sep 15^th, 2021 at 8:08pm:



Opportunistic?
They should just sell off the rest of the Charlie Watts "signed" drum sticks while they are at it.

The new issue of UNCUT (November 2021) has a 12 page tribute to Charlie with memories by the likes of Gered Mankowitz, Chris Kimsey, Kenney Jones and others as well as a great shot of him gracing the front cover

https://www.uncut.co.uk/publications/magazines/uncut-november-2021-133535/

Oddly, its not the photo shown here (which I think was used in an old issue) but a simple black and white shot with no words on the cover other than the magazine title and Charlie's signature.  Beautifully understated, just like the man himself.

Rolling Stones star Charlie Watts to be honoured with special tribute at Isle of Wight Festival after death
Louise Griffin
Saturday 18 Sep 2021 7:42 am

https://metro.co.uk/2021/09/18/charlie-watts-to-be-honoured-with-tribute-at-isle...

Pearl Jam's tribute. Minute: 11:02 and 15:45

I know that their drummer Matt Cameron is a massive Charlie fan.

Patti Smith dedicates "I'm free" to Charlie during her show at the Royal Albert Hall, they closed the show with "Not Fade Away"



https://www.nme.com/reviews/patti-smith-live-in-london-royal-albert-hall-review-...

Rolling Stones Say They Didn’t Expect Charlie Watts’ Illness to Be Fatal, Discuss Continuing to Tour

By Chris Willman

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/rolling-stones-discuss-charlie-watts-1235083
692/

In a new interview, members of the Rolling Stones say they thought Charlie Watts was recovering from illness and would eventually rejoin them, even after Steve Jordan was announced as a fill-in drummer for their current tour as Watts seemingly convalesced in the hospital.

“We watched horse racing on TV and just shot the breeze,” guitarist Ron Wood told the Los Angeles Times of being the last member to visit Watts in the hospital, a few weeks before the drummer’s Aug. 24 death. “I could tell he was pretty tired and fed up with the whole deal. He said, ‘I was really hoping to be out of here by now,’ then after that there was a complication or two and I wasn’t allowed back. No one was.”


Wood told the newspaper that the hospital room Watts ended up in was the same one where he’d been treated for cancer in 2000. “We call it the Rolling Stones suite,” Wood joked. The exact nature of Watts’ affliction still hasn’t been publicly revealed, but the Times article says the group believed Watts was “on the mend after an earlier medical procedure.”


Keith Richards had little to say about Watts’ death in his part of the interview: “I’m still trying to put it together in my head. I don’t think I can be very erudite on Charlie at the moment.”

The Stones are back on tour, with upcoming shows including two nights at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium on Oct. 14 and 17, following the resumption of their long “No Filter” tour Sept. 20 — their first gigs since August 2019, when Watts was still on board, and the pause in touring was expected to be a far shorter one.

Mick Jagger scoffs in the story at the idea that there are very many Stones fans who think the group should not continue on without Watts. Asked how he responds to those comments, the singer said, “I don’t, really — I think you’re exaggerating. … Maybe one or two do (think that). But I don’t think that’s a movement.”

Added Jagger, “When you’re a band for this long, it’s unlikely you won’t have any changes. Of course, this is probably the biggest one we’ve had. But we felt — and Charlie felt — that we should do this tour. We’d already postponed it by a year, and Charlie said to me, ‘You need to go out there. All the crew that have been out of work — you’re not gonna put them out of work again.’ So I think it was the right decision to keep going. The band still sounds great onstage, and everyone’s been really responsive at the couple of big shows we’ve done so far. They hold up signs saying, ‘We miss you, Charlie,’ and I miss him too.”

The member discussed the state of an unfinished album that was begun prior to the pandemic, which would be their first of new material since 2005. One song from the sessions, the COVID-themed “Living in a Ghost Town,” was completed and released last year and figures into the current live setlist. Watts had put down parts for “a number” of songs, the story says. “Let me put it this way,” Richards said. “You haven’t heard the last of Charlie Watts.”


Read the rest of the Times interview — which also discusses how many songs they rehearsed for possible inclusion in the current tour (and the status of the not recently performed “Brown Sugar”) — here.

Charlie Watts: Gentleman Drummer of Rock & Roll

Michael Ingmire Michael Ingmire Send an email9 hours ago

https://politichicks.com/2021/11/charlie-watts-gentleman-drummer-of-rock-roll/

Watch Nandi Bushell pay tribute to The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts

"I wanted to do something really special for Charlie"
By Will Lavin
4th November 2021

This cover is for Charlie Watts. I wanted to do something really special for Charlie. This is my most ambitious cover yet. Gimme Shelter is such an incredible tune. I hope one day I get to jam with The Rolling Stones too. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood - I LOVE THE ROLLING STONES!