According to the 2011 census, 61.5 per cent of Canadians are under the age of 49. So for most Canadians, Rolling Stone Keith Richards has been a famous rock star for their entire lives. Here, we look back at some iconic images of the larger-than-life lead guitarist of the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band.
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Here's Keith Richards in 1963 with Rolling Stones co-founder Mick Jagger. Their songwriting partnership would become one of the most successful in history. But, of course, they couldn't have known it then. Although the fan mail they're opening here indicated their growing popularity. It's strange to see the pair so young, so fresh. They look almost human, not like the gilded rock gods they've become.
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Sure, you’re used to seeing the Beatles in their Pierre Cardin suits. But, like so many bands chasing fame in their wake, the Rolling Stones followed the Fab Four’s style cues. Here, the band pose in matching check jackets in London in 1963. They look so unnatural in them. At the front of the line, Brian Jones kind of looks like he’s into it. Behind him, Jagger looks merely resigned to wearing it. Bill Wyman looks disgusted. Second from the end, there’s Keith Richards, looking like he wants to fight. And behind him, Charlie Watts looks debonair, of course, because he could make any outfit look sharp.
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"The boys had some hamburgers and played football and were happy to be beside the sea," according to the Daily Mirror photographer who covered the band's first American tour in June 1964. "However it was too cold to go swimming." Richards kept warm by smoking while playing ball with Brian Jones on a Malibu beach.
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Here's Richards smoking and playing his Epiphone hollow body electric guitar in 1966 in the wake of the Rolling Stones' first international #1 hit, 1965's "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". He had yet to develop his now-iconic sense of style. There's nary a scarf or a skull to be seen. He could be mistaken for George Harrison with his Beatles boots and mop-top.
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Now we're getting somewhere. This portrait from 1967 sees the guitarist flirting with dandyism with an adorned ascot and psychedelic glasses. And where did he get that hairdo? “I’ve never had my hair cut by anybody, I do it all myself,” he told NME in 2007. “I’ve never let anybody touch it. My mum used to give me two shillings and sixpence every two weeks to get my hair cut, and I would just ignore the barber and chop it off myself and keep the f**king money. Spent it on cigs. And a bit of booze, probably, and I’d try and impress a bird here or there, too.”
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Hark, is that a scarf around his waist? A Flying V guitar and a long shag hairstyle? Here, we see hints of Richard’s personal style emerging on stage at The Stones in the Park, a free outdoor festival held in Hyde Park in London on July 5, 1969. (Sure, Mick Jagger’s Mr. Fish dress looks nice, too.) It was the band’s first live gig in two years, and their first since founding member and guitar player Brian Jones left the band the previous month. The show was planned to introduce new guitarist Mick Taylor. But Jones’ sudden death in a swimming pool two days before the show had cast a pall over the gig, which was attended by over 250,000 fans. In a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone, Richards said, "We played pretty bad until near the end, because we hadn't played for years ... Nobody minded, because they just wanted to hear us play again."
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Here’s Richards in 1974 in a leopard-print coat, polka-dot bow tie, breton shirt, and is that a dangling earring? This is the look of a rock star smack dab in the middle of a string of #1 records, including ‘Let It Bleed’ in 1969, ‘Sticky Fingers’ in 1971, ‘Exile on Main St.’ in 1972 and 1973’s 'Goats Head Soup’. Richards had also just endured a string of drug busts. In 1967 he was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to one year in prison but the conviction was overturned for lack of evidence. He faced 25 charges after a raid on his home in 1973. The police found marijuana, heroin, Mandrax, and drug paraphernalia, and seized a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, a shotgun and 110 rounds of ammunition. Richards was let off with a fine.
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This man does not look well. Here’s Richards in Belgium during the Rolling Stones' “Tour of Europe '76”. He had been charged with possession of cocaine and LSD that year. Still, the band rolled on. The tour’s setlist included hits like "Honky Tonk Women”, “Fool to Cry”, “Angie”, "You Can't Always Get What You Want”, “It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)”, and "Happy”, on which Richards sang lead vocals.
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Sun's out, guns out! A surprisingly muscular Richards rocks onstage with his favourite accessory, a cigarette, in front of 80,000 people for the first of two dates at the Hippodrome d'Auteuil in Paris on June 13, 1982. The Stones maintained a low-profile, clean-cut image for the tour. Logistically, 16 tractor-trailers carried stage sets and equipment through 11 countries while the band travelled to shows on a chartered Boeing 707.
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In 1988, Richards released his first solo album with his backing band, the X-pensive Winos, including singer Sarah Dash, bassist and percussionist Charley Drayton, drummer Steve Jordan, saxophonist Bobby Keys, keyboardist Ivan Neville, and guitarist Waddy Wachtel. The debut album, ‘Talk Is Cheap’, was followed by ‘Main Offender’ in 1992 and ‘Crosseyed Heart’ in 2015.
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Johnny Depp cited Keith Richards as inspo for his Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. So Richards was the top choice to play Jack Sparrow's father, Captain Teague, in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" in 2007 and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" in 2011. Here's the pair at the world premiere of "On Stranger Tides" at Disneyland on May 7, 2011.
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The Rolling Stones set off on the "No Filter" tour in September 2017 in Germany. In March 2019, the North American leg of the tour was interrupted because Mick Jagger needed treatment for an unspecific medical condition. The following March, the tour was interrupted again by COVID-19. It resumed in September 2021, but without drummer Charlie Watts, who had passed away the previous month. And yet, the show must go on. Here's Richards onstage on the Florida stop of the "No Filter" tour in 2021. This year, the Rolling Stones will celebrate their 60th anniversary with a European tour that kicks off in Spain in June and wraps up at the end of July in Sweden. "Well, I'm not putting death on the agenda," Richards told the Times. "I don't want to see my old friend Lucifer just yet."