The Rolling Stones are preparing to hit the road next month for their No Filter tour, which sees them making several stops in cities across the United States. Unfortunately, the band will begin the journey shy one member. Drummer Charlie Watts will not accompany the band for the tour after he was forced to undergo an unspecified medical procedure. Steve Jordan, who is a longtime associate of the band and a member of Keith Richards’ side project X-Pensive Winos, will replace Watts for the Rolling Stones’ future tour stops.
“Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation,” a representative for the band said in a statement. “With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.”
Watts also released his own statement, in which he joked that “for once, my timing has been a little off.” He also said, “I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while,” adding, “After all the fans’ suffering caused by Covid, I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation.”
While Watts is not one of the founding members of the Stones, prior to today, the drummer had yet to miss a performance since January 1963. Along with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, he’s the only member to appear on each album the they’ve released.