About Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an internationally recognized iconic figure in
contemporary culture and popular music as a singer, guitar player,
songwriter, film actor, and public figure. He was voted 10th greatest
guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine, and was elected to the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, as founding member of the legendary
rock band The Rolling Stones.
Together with his song-writing partner, Mick Jagger, he wrote and
recorded hundreds of songs, including their monster hit 'Satisfaction',
one of the defining songs of the era.He was born on December 18, 1943, in Dartford, Kent,
England, UK. His father, Bert Richards, a factory worker, was injured
during the WWII. His mother, Doris (Dupree), introduced him to music of
jazz, and also encouraged his singing performances with a choir in
Westminster Abbey. Keith Richards met
Mick Jagger when he attended primary school
during the 1950s, albeit when they went into secondary schools they
lost touch for a while. But one day in 1960 they accidentally met on a
train and talked about starting up a band. Eventually, Richards and
Jagger made their dream come true. They established one of the most
legendary life-long songwriting partnerships, following the example of
John Lennon and
Paul McCartney's songwriting for
The Beatles. Besides their main success in
popular music and entertainment, Richards and Jagger had carried on
their early image of unkempt and surly youth that many others would
emulate, and spread their influence across traditional boundaries of
genres and styles into filmmaking, art, fashion, and contemporary
lifestyle, thus turning Jagger and Richards into cross-cultural
trend-setters.Since The Rolling Stones were formed
in 1962, Richards and Jagger were continuously absorbing from many
musical styles and assimilated various genres and artistic influences,
ultimately creating their very own inimitable style. Together they
undergone transformation from semi-amateur local musicians to the
leading international superstars. Both Richards and Jagger became
poster boys for excess, however, they had survived ups and downs in
their careers and personal lives, and remained the core of the band.
Initially they shared a flat with the late Brian Jones in London, in
1962. The first lineup of the Stones consisted of Mick Jagger on lead
vocal and harmonica Keith Richards on guitar,
Bill Wyman on bass,
Charlie Watts on drums and
Brian Jones on guitar. In 1964 they
released their first album titled "The Rolling Stones." In 1965
Richards and Jagger wrote their single, "The Last Time," that became
their first number 1 hit in the UK. Then came "Satisfaction" (1965),
which was composed by Keith Richards in his sleep, and with the
addition of provocative lyrics by Mick Jagger it became the greatest
hit and their calling card on each and every show.In 1966, after The Beatles stopped giving
live performances, The Rolling Stones
took over as the unofficial "biggest touring band in the world" for the
next few years. During 1966-1969 they toured the world, and constantly
updated their song-list with many great hits like "Lets Spend the night
together" (1967), "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968) and...