Keith Richards

Best known for his highly-skilled rhythm guitar playing, musician Keith Richards has been a legendary supporting force in rock music. Born Keith Richards on December 1943 in Dartford, Kent, England he is most celebrated for his work with British rock sensation The Rolling Stones, but has during his lifetime worked with many musicians, including Max Romeo, Les Paul, Tom Waits, Bono and the Edge of the band U2 and even Aretha Franklin. The first manager of The Rolling Stones opted to change Richards last name to "Richard" in order to remind others of then famous pop star Cliff Richard, but Richards eventually re-added the "s" once he had established himself.

An only child, it is rumored that Keith Richards was conceived so his mother wouldn't have to work in a factory during the war. His father was a disabled war veteran that worked in a factory. He often states that his maternal grandfather, a jazz and big band musician in Britain was his main influence as a child and part of the reason he decided to get into music. As a child, Richards looked up to musician and actor Roy Rogers and would dress up like him often while playing his instrument.

Two elements have played a strong part in Richards' career as a guitarist. The first is his love of musical collaboration, and the second has been his total commitment to The Rolling Stones. Nicknamed the "Human Riff," he has been called the greatest rhythm guitarist in the rock and roll industry, but is perhaps best known for his incredible endurance and ability to overcome many lifestyle excesses.

He provided a great counterbalance for larger-than-life front-man Mick Jagger with his cool, quiet performances and steady supporting rhythm playing. Despite being overshadowed often by the extroverted Jagger, his musical legacy is highly underrated. He is perhaps the greatest blues-based rhythm guitarist since Chuck Berry, a musical genius he considers one of his greatest playing influences, and has worked his way through some of the most memorable and complicated guitar riffs ever played with an ease that often causes many critics to overlook his also astounding talent for songwriting. His sparse, percussive guitar style is a testament to his inner sense of basic rhythm and blues as well as skill at using the spaces between the notes in songs to add dramatic intensity and expressiveness. The sound he trademarked is now one of the major foundations of hard rock and modern rock.

Richards enjoyed ensemble work far more than soloing, and explored the groove aspect of music using open-chord tunings like those heard in traditional Delta blues. He often strung his guitars with just five strings to make fingerings more effortless and to create a distinctive sound. He was happiest while playing within a group and was the very last member of the Rolling Stones to put out a solo album in 1988, over 25 years after he co-founded his trademark band.

Keith Richards met Mick Jagger first in school in 1951 and became friends, but were split up due to educational changes three years later. In the mid-1950's, Richards first became interested in American rock and roll and began taking guitar lessons from his grandfather. While Richards was expelled in 1959 due to behavior problems, but was spotted as a musical talent by the headmaster and was sent to Sidcup Art School where he met Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor who was at the time playing with his old friend Jagger. The two struck up a friendship quickly once again, and he became part of the band shortly after. In the next couple years, the rhythm and blues band turned into The Rolling Stones, who debuted on-stage in 1962; the rest is history.

The Rolling Stones originated as a rhythm and blues band, but at the very first rehearsal, Richards introduced the straight rock and roll songs of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry to the repertoire. Richards and other Stones founding member and lead guitarist Brian Jones perfected the integration of lead and rhythm guitar parts and helped the Stones become a band known for the most seamless two-guitar sound in rock music. Jones was replaced by guitarist Mick Taylor in the late 1960's. While Taylor was part of the group's most well-known and successful records, he worked on separating the lead and rhythm guitar parts more distinctly to the dismay of Richards. IN 1975, Ron Wood replaced virtuoso Taylor and re-introduced a more rhythmically-centered sound to the guitar section of the band that was most satisfying for Richards musically.

Most of the original material written by The Rolling Stones came from the collaborative efforts of Jagger and Richards. While they took a bit of time to get the feel for professional songwriting, by 1965 they were producing some of their best work, including the hit "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," which launched them into superstardom in both the U.K. and the United States. That song boasts one of Richards greatest contributions to rock and roll - a guitar riff that Richards played into a tape recorder late in the night and almost forgot.

The Stones, along with Richards became the victims of British police constantly trying to subvert the band's aggressive, sex-based image. The watchful eye of the police led to Richards' first drug charges in 1967 when his home was raided and amphetamines were uncovered. He was sentenced originally to a year in prison, but the public outrage combined with the circumstantial nature of evidence reversed the decision. In this same year, Richards partnered with model/actress Anita Pallenberg; though he never married her, they were together for 12 years and had two children.

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