Keith Richards is one of the best living guitarists. Known as an integral part of the music group The Rolling Stones, of which he was a founding member, he also tried his hand at a solo music career that was not as successful as his efforts with The Rolling Stones. Aside from the guitar, Richards is a prolific songwriter who served the group as well as his combination with his childhood friend Mick Jagger, who delivered hits after hits for The Stones.
But like most hardcore musicians, Keith Richards struggled with drugs, which earned him several run-ins with the drug authorities. He is married and has held it together for a surprisingly long time. Read more about this icon in the article below.
Keith Richards Bio, Age
Keith Richards was born on December 18, 1943, in the Livingston Hospital in the English city of Dartford, Kent. Among those who witnessed his birth were his parents, Herbert William Richards and Doris Maud Lydia Dupree. Richards first attended Wentworth Primary School, where he met Mick Jagger, who was just a schoolmate at the time but would later become part of his musical life for decades. They studied together until they were separated when Richard’s family moved to another part of the city. He continued his education at the Technical College for Boys in Dartford.
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As an only child, his grandparents liked him, and since his maternal grandfather was a musician who led the English jazz band Gus Dupree and his Boys, young Richard’s musical traits easily rubbed off on him, and so his preference for the guitar began. During his time at Dartford Tech, he was a member of the school choir and also one of those chosen to sing at the coronation of Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in 1953.
His love of music grew from day to day and led him to skip classes. After he had had enough of his unrepentant truancy, he was expelled from school in 1959. He would continue at Sidcup Art College, but this did nothing to extinguish the fire of music that was burning inside him. He continued to skip music lessons when he met like-minded people at school, including Dick Taylor.
After getting back in touch with Mick Jagger almost ten years after they had left elementary school, he realized they shared a similar passion for music, and at that point, together with their mutual friend Taylor, the future was born. Initially, Keith Richards joined their (Taylor and Jagger) amateur band Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys and eventually dropped out of school – Sidcup Art College – to dedicate himself to music.
Keith Richards Career and Net Worth
He met Brian Jones, who introduced him to Ian Stewart, and with them, including Jagger and Taylor, “The Rolling Stones” was born in 1962. They had their first official outing in London, and after that, they were to take off and take off, which they did. Keith Richard’s role in the band was that of guitarist, backup singer, and songwriter (he wrote songs with Mick Jagger).
Most band members described him as the leader of the group, although Brian Jones is the designated founder of the Rolling Stones. The group included in its earliest days Charlie Watts, who was the drummer, and Bill Wyman, who took the place of the late Dick Taylor on bass. They were also led by Andrew Loog Oldham at that time.
The band began covering covers for popular songs until they started writing their own songs. They were signed to Decca Records in 1963 and released their first single, Come On, and recorded a second in the same year, I Wanna Be Your Man. In 1964, their cover of It’s All Over Now, originally sung by Bobby Womack, found its way into the British charts, and their first album, Rolling Stones, also fell. Further albums like “Out of Our Heads” and “Aftermath” followed in 1965 and 1966 respectively.
By this time the Rolling Stones had become a global sound, and further albums such as Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main St. (1972) followed. Their 1978 album Some Girls sold over eight million copies, and in the midst of their successes, the boys couldn’t keep their noses clean and got into trouble with drug and law enforcement authorities several times, combined with tensions within the group, especially between Richards and Jagger.
The civil war within the group led to a pause, and Richard took the opportunity to work on solo projects, which resulted in his first solo album “Talk Is Cheap” in 1988, which was so well received by the public and received many positive reviews. The Rolling Stones returned in 1989 and released Steel Wheels. This effort was followed by Voodoo Lounge (1994) and Bridges to Babylon (1997).
On a tour to promote their 2005 album A Bigger Bang, Keith Richards fell from a tree and suffered a head injury that required surgery. Most concert dates on the tour had to be postponed to allow for his recovery after brain surgery.
Richards also played several roles on the big screen, which he debuted in 2007 with a role in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. He also appeared in the sequels Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, in which he retained his role as Captain Teague in 2011 and 2017 respectively.
Despite all his efforts, the music icon has accumulated an enormous net worth for himself, which is in keeping with his years of continuous productivity in the music industry. Keith Richards is estimated to have a net worth of $340 million.
Is He Married? Wife, Children
Keith Richard’s first known relationship was with his long-time girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, who was his partner for 12 years (1968-1980). Anita was originally the girlfriend of Richard’s bandmate Brian Jones but decided to leave him for Richard when he became abusive (this is said to have been the reason Brian left him or was voted out of office by the Rolling Stones).
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She is the mother of Richard’s first two children – a son named Marlon Leon Sundeep and a daughter named Dandelion (Angela). They had a third child, Tara, but she died in infancy in 1976. Richard made his first marriage in 1983 when he married Patti Hansen, an American model. The wedding took place in Mexico on December 18, 1983, and they are still together with their two daughters, Theodora Dupree and Alexandra Nicole.
Others Facts About Keith Richards
Keith Richards is a Hall of Famer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.
The Rolling Stones performed on March 25, 2016, in Havana, Cuba, in front of half a million fans. The concert was goalless and their first in the country since they were banned from performing by the communist regime.
His grandfather, Gus Dupree, is credited with his greatest influence on music. Richards recounts how Dupree had placed a guitar far from his reach and promised that he would own it if he got it. And so, after several attempts, Richards got the guitar, and so he owned his first musical instrument.
Keith Richards published his autobiography in October 2010, entitled “Life”, in which he wrote in great detail about the Rolling Stone, his stormy friendship with Mick Jagger, his drug addiction, etc.
