Keith Richards reveals he pays tribute to Charlie Watts every day

nme.com:

Keith Richards has revealed that he pays tribute to his friend and long-time bandmate Charlie Watts every day.The iconic rock guitarist opened up about the close relationship he had with the drummer during an interview on The Howard Stern Show, and shared how he thinks about Watts daily.“I miss Charlie every day,” the 79-year-old musician revealed, adding that he has a special routine he does each morning for the musician. “As I come out of my bedroom the first thing I see is… a portrait of Charlie on the staircase — I always give him a salute on the way.

Charlie Watts was a solid guy.”The drummer had been a part of The Rolling Stones’s line-up since January 1963. His death was announced in August 2021 – shortly after he was forced to pull out of the band’s tour to undergo surgery, which resulted in complications.

He was aged 80.Now the band – comprised of Richards, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood – have continued on without their drummer of nearly six decades, and are set to release their new album ‘Hackney Diamonds’ next Friday (October 20).The album marks their 24th studio record, and their first collection of original music in 18 years, following 2005’s ‘A Bigger Bang’.

So far, the trio have shared two singles from the project: ‘Angry’ and ‘Sweet Sounds Of Heaven’ (featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder).Watts has also been confirmed to feature on two of the songs, ‘Mess It Up’ and ‘Live by the Sword’, with Steve Jordan providing drumming on the rest of the tracks.Discussing the impact that Watts had on their recording sessions, Richards said that the drummer brought a sense of “intelligence” to their songwriting.