Most artists can claim that music has been there for them at the best and worst of times. It was what helped them make a living doing what they loved, and it also provided comfort during some of their darkest days when there seemed to be no hope left. While many can claim that their concerts are a celebration of everything they do, Keith Richards pointed to one Rolling Stones show as a true life-saver for him.
The Rolling Stones’ concert stage has never been known as the safest environment, though. While Richards may continue trying to look like one of the coolest people in the world with his guitar slung across his back, he did have to use it as a weapon on more than a few occasions, wielding it like a battle axe on occasion to take out anyone in his path.
After coming out of the psychedelic dream of the 1960s, Richards was about to lead the band into some of the darkest periods of their career. Outside of nursing a heroin habit, Richards would be providing riffs with a far more sinister edge than before, turning the band’s next albums, like Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St, into the sounds of rock and roll hedonism half the time.
Once Richards began cleaning up his act, though, he had other problems to deal with back home. When not on tour, Richards had been tending to his young son, Tara, alongside his girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg when the infant tragically passed away at ten weeks old. Since a rock star’s life involves being gone for months out of the year, Richards got the shock of his life over the phone right before the band were set to put on a show in Paris.
While any musician would have brought the tour to a halt so that they could go home, Richards persevered, saying that he would rather go on than sit in his hotel breaking down. Looking back on that show, Richards admitted that if he hadn’t gone onstage that night, he probably would have been following Tara into the afterlife.
Discussing the tragedy later, Richards remembered that he had put walls up throughout the show, saying, “Maybe it was a sense of self-preservation. It was a rough, rough thing. And I had a feeling. I must go on stage now, and I’ll worry and grieve and think about all this after the show. Because it didn’t go on the stage, I’d have probably shot myself”.
This was far from the first time that a rock star had used working as a way to cope with their problems. Just a few years later, Paul McCartney did the same thing after hearing about the death of John Lennon, opting to go into the studio rather than having to sit at home ruminating on everything that had happened.
After grieving in private following the tour, Richards kept his pain reserved for the songs, eventually working on various songs for The Stones’ next smash album, Some Girls. Richards has never forgotten his love of the stage, either, finding a way to keep the band carrying on in the 2020s with Steve Jordan following the death of Charlie Watts. Concerts may be a nerve-wracking experience for anyone, but when you’re down and out, Richards found out it can help soothe any internal wounds.
