Though, now, fans couldn’t imagine The Rolling Stones without Ronnie Wood, there was a time when he was merely dreaming of being in the band. He got his wish in 1976. The events that led up to Wood joining the rock outfit were happenstance. Check out the story behind how Wood joined the band, below.
Videos by American Songwriter
How Ronnie Wood Joined The Rolling Stones
Before Wood joined the group, guitar duties were being handled by Keith Richards and Mick Taylor. Though many fans consider Taylor’s run as one of the best legs of the Stone’s lengthy career, it came to a close due to the guitarist’s issues with songwriting credits and drug addiction.
Meanwhile, Wood was amassing an illustrious career as a solo artist and a member of many bands. Among the groups he joined include the Jeff Beck Group and Faces. Despite his past success, it was the Stones he was gunning for.
“I’ve got an article where my mum says that I used to run home from school to watch the Stones on TV,” Wood once said. “Right from when I was at college I wanted to be in that band.”
“I always knew I was gonna end up in this band,” Wood further explained. “I remember walking around the periphery of Hyde Park in ’69, and this big car pulls up through a whole sea of people and out steps Mick and Charlie. Mick comes up and says, ‘Ullo, Face,’ which is what he called me then, ’cause I was in the Faces. And we talk away for a while and then they say, ‘Okay, we gotta go and play. We’ll see you soon.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, sooner than you think.’ I was always confident I would end up in this band, and a few years later I did.”
Wood first got in touch with the Stones at a party that was attended by several heavy weight rockers. Wood met Mick Jagger and instantly forged a connection–one that would eventually earn him a permanent spot in the Stones.
“I wanted someone that was easy to get on with, you know, that wasn’t too difficult and that was a good player and was used to playing onstage,” Jagger once said. “It’s quite a lot to ask of someone to come and do a big American tour with a band like the Stones, you know? I mean, not that I think the Stones are any really big deal, but it tends to be a bit of a paralyzing experience for people. You know what I mean? And I wanted someone that wasn’t going to be phased out.”
It seems he found what he was looking for in Wood, considering he’s been apart of the band for decades. Revisit Wood’s stellar playing, below.
(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
