Rock legend Ronnie Wood has shared the unlikely secret behind The Rolling Stones’ decades-long survival and it’s not wild parties or constant collaboration.
In a candid new interview, 77-year-old Ronnie Wood says the key to the Rolling Stones’ unmatched longevity is not over-socialising with his bandmates, Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. According to Wood, maintaining just enough distance has kept their creative spark alive since he joined the band in 1975.
“We’re not on the phone to each other every five minutes,” Wood told The Daily Telegraph. “When we’re not touring, we keep in touch just to keep the feelers in each other’s camp, but we don’t over-familiarise – we run on faith and truth.”
“Faith in the music” fuels Rolling Stones’ legacy
Wood credits “faith in our music” and unwavering belief that fans will keep showing up as core to the band’s success. And show up they do; their 2023 album Hackney Diamonds received critical acclaim and delivered some of their strongest sales in decades.
But while their records continue to hit, Wood admitted the modern charts are a mystery to them.
“In the old days we used to have the charts, and you’d feel a part of it. You’d look at Melody Maker and say, ‘Look! We’re number 50!’ … I’ve no idea where we are now.”
Ronnie Wood: The “diplomatic welding torch” between Mick and Keith
Beyond the music, Wood has also played a vital behind-the-scenes role: keeping Mick and Keith from drifting apart. Describing himself as a “diplomatic welding torch,” he recalled a tense moment during the making of 1986’s Dirty Work, when Jagger and Richards weren’t speaking.
“It was, ‘OK, you’re going to speak to one another on the phone.’ ‘He doesn’t want to speak to me.’ ‘Oh yes he does! I’ve rigged it up – in 15 minutes he’s expecting your call.’”
Thanks to Wood’s behind-the-scenes mediation, the two reconnected:
“They’re like brothers — they may argue between them, but in the end it’s family. That was the glue, the foundation of the band. I had to protect the institution, didn’t I? It’s the Rolling Stones! No way was this going to collapse.”
