People: Charlie Watts

6/2/1941 - 8/24/2021

“When people talk about the 60’s I never think that was me there. It was me and I was in it, but I was never enamored with all that.” Charlie Watts

I don’t know exactly why, but when I first heard that Charlie Watts had died, I was heartbroken. He was the calm that prevailed atop the hurricane and thunder that raged on stage.

I was compelled to know more of him. I only knew that he was a steady and down to earth force within the rockers’ world of the Rolling Stones. I learned that he was from a beautifully ordinary working class family from Wembley in Middlesex, England. I learned that his dad was a lorry driver for the railroad and his mom was a factory worker. I learned that Charlie’s parents gave him his first drum set in 1955, when he was 14 years old and that was when the seed was planted.

Then I learned that Charlie was a jazz lover at his very core, with a drumming style born from his love for jazz. Early on he played in the jazz band, “The Jo Jones All Stars”, then eventually transitioned into the rhythm and blues genre. In the beginning he worked days as a graphic designer and at night as a drummer with The Blues Incorporated. They played in local pubs and other venues. Timing was everything as the Stones drummer, Tony Chapman had left the band and they were actively looking for a replacement. So in January of 1963 after being introduced to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards through Brian Jones Charlie officially joined the Rolling Stones and the rest is history, as they say.

Charlie was an enigma in the world of Rock and Roll. His drumming had swing at heart, seemed effortless and full of grace. He did not need nor did he seek out the spotlight. His musical idols were Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. He had no need to bang out a drum solo and to bask in the limelight. Charlie was a contrast, if not a the polar opposite to the “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” persona of Mick and the other Stones. He was a quiet, unassuming gentlemen through and through, who adored his family and tolerated the mandatory touring that took him away from home and his loved ones for periods of time. Charlie had a love/hate relationship with the rocker world and all that it entailed… the touring, the time away from home, the groupies, the drugs, the crazy rocker highlife of super stars, etc. He yearned for the simpler, quiet life with his wife and daughter. He was married to Shirley Shepherd in 1964 and they had a daughter, Seraphina and a granddaughter Charlotte, who he adored. He remained married to Shirley until his death at the age of 80 in 2021 and Shirley died in 2022 at the age of 82.

I learned that Charlie collected antique cars, but didn’t drive. He loved cricket and collected all sorts of cricket memorabilia, but didn’t play. He owned an Arabian horse stud farm, raised throughbred horses and didn’t ride.

It was clear that the “pop idol” persona as we know it was definitely not a good fit for Charlie. He was the calm in the rocky, stormy climate within the flamboyant world of the super star rocker band. He was quiet and genteel amongst the loud and wild milieu he inhabited, with the exception of one unsettling 3 year period when he spiraled down into the rocker world of drugs and alcohol. He eventually resurfaced to normalcy with the help and support of his wife, Shirley, stating, “All I know is that I became totally another person around 1983 and came out of it about 1986. I nearly lost my wife and everything over my behavior”.

Then despite having quit smoking sometime in the 1980’s, he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2004 and after completing a full bore regimen of chemotherapy and other medical interventions, he resumed his touring with the Stones. On August 5, 2021, it was reported that Charlie was unable to rejoin the Stones on tour as he was undergoing medical therapy and died 19 days later. He named his replacement drummer to the Stones shortly before his death, “If anything should happen to me, Steve Jordon is your man”.

Charlie Watts died in London on August 24th, 2021 surrounded by his beloved family. He was 80 years old and had been the drummer with the Rolling Stones for 58 years.

RIP extraordinary and beautiful Charlie Watts