Best 32 Keith Richards Facts
“Richards claims that he first felt an attraction to music when he was just three years old. He began appreciating classic artists like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn.”
“Published his memoir, Life, in 2010.”
“Richards’ father, Herbert W. Richards, was a factory worker who served in the Second World War.”
“As a youth, Richards belonged for a time to the Boy Scouts. “It was mainly a chance to swagger around with a knife on your belt,” he explains. Unfortunately, “you didn’t get the knife until you got a few badges.””
“Richards’ first solo single was released in 1978”
“he owns more than 3,000 guitars in his private collection”
“Richards is well-versed in booze, but his drink of choice is quite interesting. He likes to mix two ounces of vodka with one ounce of orange soda and plenty of ice”
“He was a pirate king long before Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack. He calls the plane the band hired for their 1972 tour “a pirate nation”, moving under its own flag: the lapping tongue.”
“When the Stones first started playing together, they created a makeshift recording studio out of a bathroom. They did this not because of the acoustics, but because Richards thought the sound of a toilet flushing mimicked applause.”
“He has worn a skull ring on the third finger of his right hand since the early 1970’s, reminding himself “that we are all the same beneath the surface.””
“Stephen King is a big fan of Richards and claimed he could never play as well as him, no matter how hard he tried.”
“Richards Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.”
“His maternal grandfather, Augustus Theodore “Gus” Dupree, who toured Britain with a jazz big band, Gus Dupree and his Boys, fostered Richards’ interest in guitar”
“Richards is an avid reader with a strong interest in history, and owns an extensive library”
“Richards attended Wentworth Primary School with Mick Jagger and was his neighbour until 1954, when the family moved.”
“Has been nominated, with the Rolling Stones, for 12 Grammy Awards and has won three.”
“As a member of the Rolling Stones, Richards has been nominated for a total of 11 Grammy Awards, two of which they won.”
“Apparently, Richards would rather hug and kiss than do anything else. He has written that he would go to bed with a woman just for the company.”
“According to Mick Jagger, there were two rules for when the Stones went on tour. The first rule is that nobody plays on the snooker table unless he has been asked, and the second: “…you never, ever, take the shepherd’s pie unless Keith Richards has broken the crust first.””
“Richards is a keen fan of shepherd’s pie, a British traditional delicacy”
“In 2001, Rolling Stone magazine listed Richards fourth place on a list of the 100 best guitarists”
“Richards has written that, in regards to approaching women, “I just don’t know how to do it. I’m tongue-tied.” Apparently, he seduces women by creating an environment of “insufferable tension.””
“One of Richards’ first guitar heroes was Scotty Moore”
“Suffered a concussion on April 27, 2006, after falling out of a palm tree in Fiji. He was flown to New Zealand for emergency surgery to relieve a blood clot on his brain.”
“In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine referred to Richards as the creator of “”rock’s greatest single body of riffs”” on guitar, ranking him fourth on its list of the top 100 best guitarists”
” The tough neighborhood where he grew up also was the onetime location of the City of London Lunatic Asylum, where Jack the Ripper suspect Jacob Levy was once confined.”
“As a youth, Richards attended the Dartford Technical High School for Boys”
“Richards first met Mick Jagger during their time in primary school”
“The car, an S3 Continental Flying Spur, was one of just 86 ever made.”
“He never makes the first move with a woman. “I just don’t know how to do it,” he writes. “I’m tongue-tied.” Instead, he claims, his seductive technique was to create an aura of “insufferable tension” and wait for the woman to give in.”
“Johnny Depp used his mannerisms, voice, and personality to create his popular Jack Sparrow character.”
“In 2006, while vacationing in Fiji, Keith fell out of a coconut tree, and suffered a mild concussion. He was taken to a hospital in New Zealand. What’s really surprising about this story is that there’s a Keith Richards injury that didn’t involve drug use. Or maybe that’s how it happened in the first place…”