Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, producer, actor, and one of the original members of the rock band The Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone Magazine credited Richards for “rock’s greatest single body of riffs” on guitar and ranked him 4th on its list of 100 best guitarists. Fourteen songs that Richards wrote with the Rolling Stones’ lead vocalist Mick Jagger are listed among Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. The Stones are generally known for their guitar interplay of rhythm and lead (“weaving”) with Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood over the years. In spite of this, Richards plays the only guitar tracks on some of their most famous songs including “Paint It Black”, “Ruby Tuesday”, “Sympathy for the Devil”, and “Gimme Shelter”.
Richards’ mother bought him his first guitar and he played at home, listening to recordings by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and others.His father, on the other hand, disparaged his son’s musical enthusiasm. One of Richards’ first guitar heroes was Scotty Moore. Richards met Jagger on a train as Jagger was heading for classes at the London School of Economics.The mail-order rhythm & blues albums from Chess Records by Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters that Jagger was carrying revealed a mutual interest and led to a renewal of their childhood friendship, love of blues, and in 1963, they formed The Rolling Stones.
Richards is the Rolling Stones’ bandleader, and he says his job is “oiling the machinery.” Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood say that while most bands follow the drummer, the Rolling Stones, Wyman says, have “no way of ‘not’ following” Richards. Richards has a collection of approximately 3,000 guitars. Even though he has used many different guitar models, in a 1986 Guitar World interview Richards joked that no matter what model he plays, “give me five minutes and I’ll make ’em all sound the same.” Chris Spedding calls Richards’ guitar playing “direct, incisive and unpretentious”. Richards says he is focused on chords and rhythms while avoiding flamboyant and competitive virtuosity by not trying to be the “fastest gun in the west.” He prefers teaming with at least one other guitarist and has almost never toured without one. Richards regards acoustic guitar as the basis for his playing, believing that the limitations of electric guitar would cause him to “lose that touch” if he stopped playing an acoustic.
The first top-ten hit for the Rolling Stones with a Jagger and Richards original was “The Last Time” in early 1965;”(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (also 1965) was their first international number one recording. Richards has stated that the”Satisfaction” riff came to him in his sleep; he woke up just long enough to record it on a cassette player by his bed. Since Aftermath (1966) most Rolling Stones albums have consisted mainly of Jagger and Richards originals. Their songs reflect the influence of blues, R&B, rock & roll, pop, soul, gospel and country, as well as forays into psychedelia and Dylanesque social commentary.
Richards made a cameo appearance as Captain Teague, the father of Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp), in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, released in May 2007, and won the Best Celebrity Cameo award at the 2007 Spike Horror Awards for the role. Depp has stated that he based many of Sparrow’s mannerisms on Richards. Richards reprised his role in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, released in May 2011.
His autobiography, Life, was released in 2010. In it, Richards refers to Mick Jagger as “unbearable” and notes that their relationship has been strained “for decades”.
In his solo career, Richards has often shared co-writing credits with drummer and co-producer Steve Jordan. Richards has said, “I’ve always thought songs written by two people are better than those written by one. You get another angle on it.” Richards has frequently stated that he feels less like a creator than a conduit when writing songs: “I don’t have that god aspect about it. I prefer to think of myself as an antenna. There’s only one song, and Adam and Eve wrote it; the rest is a variation on a theme.” Richards was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.His third solo album, Crosseyed Heart, was released in September 2015.
Keith Richards & The X-Pensive Winos – Live at the Hollywood Palladium out November 13! Click here for available formats & preorder: The Deluxe Boxset features a 40 page hardback book, 2LPs, CD, DVD and much more plus 3 previously unreleased live tracks including ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ and ‘Little T&A’.
Keef’s new single (Feb.2024) is in honor of Lou Reed.
“To me, Lou stood out. The real deal! Something important to American music and to ALL MUSIC! I miss him and his dog.” – Keith Richards In honor of Lou Reed’s birthday, Keith Richards has recorded a cover of “I’m Waiting for the Man.” The digital single & music video are out now and featured on the upcoming album The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed, which includes newly recorded covers from Keith Richards, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Rufus Wainwright, Lucinda Williams, Maxim Ludwig & Angel Olsen, Rickie Lee Jones, Mary Gauthier, Bobby Rush, Automatic, The Afghan Whigs, and Rosanne Cash. This special collection will be released by Light in the Attic Records and available on Vinyl & CD at fine independent record shops worldwide on Record Store Day (April 20th). It goes without saying that the legendary Lou Reed was a true rock ’n’ roll pioneer. From The Velvet Underground’s debut in 1967 all the way through the end of his days, Reed sang truth from his heart. He lived life to the limit—and then some. The Power of the Heart is a tribute to Reed’s freedom of expression with covers spanning his groundbreaking years with the Velvets into his majestic solo career. Each track is a glorious extension of the Rock ’n’ Roll Animal’s soul, ever adventurous and avant-garde.”
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