Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts: the quiet man at the heart of a storm
Charlie Watts, the drummer of legendary British rock band the Rolling Stones, died in London on Tuesday at the age of 80. Figures from the French music industry have added their voices to the global wave of admiration for the man who kept the Stones up to the mark by making a lot of noise.
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Charlie Watts passed away peacefully.
He was known as the quiet man of a riotous band, famous for hits such as "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Satisfaction".
His level head off-stage was matched by his metronomic time-keeping on drums, counterbalancing the energy and charisma of singer Mick Jagger and guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood.
Charlie Watts had no formal musical training. He said he learned by watching great jazz drummers in London clubs.
He joined the Rolling Stones in 1963.
While the other band members became known for what Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper described as "marriage break-ups, addiction, arrests and furious bust-ups", Watts lived quietly with his wife of more than 50 years, Shirley Shepherd.
Trashing hotel rooms and sleeping with groupies was not for him.
"I've never filled the stereotype of the rock star," he told Rolling Stone magazine in 1994. "Back in the '70s, Bill Wyman and I decided to grow beards and the effort left us exhausted."
'A very sad day'
Paul McCartney of the Beatles said "he was a lovely guy, I knew he was ill, but I didn't know he was this ill. Love you Charlie, beautiful man."
Ringo Starr said "God bless Charlie. We're going to miss you."
"Charlie Watts was the ultimate drummer," Elton John wrote on Twitter.
A very sad day. Charlie Watts was the ultimate drummer. The most stylish of men, and such brilliant company. My deepest condolences to Shirley, Seraphina and Charlotte. And of course, The Rolling Stones.
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) August 24, 2021
@therollingstones #CharlieWatts #RIP pic.twitter.com/9rjSSgioZL
"The most stylish of men, and such brilliant company. My deepest condolences to Shirley, Seraphina and Charlotte," Watts' widow, daughter and granddaughter.
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine said Charlie Watts was an "incredible musician".
Dropped out of US tour for medical reasons
Watts announced earlier this month that he would miss the September resumption of the Rolling Stones' tour of the United States for medical reasons.
"Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation," a spokesman said at the time.
Watts himself released a statement saying: "For once my timing has been a little off."
French admiration for the man and the musician
Here in France, drummer Manu Katché said the heart of the Rolling Stones had stopped beating. "Without Charlie Watts, the Stones would not have been the Stones."
Rock journalist Philippe Manoeuvre remembers a "person of extraordinary gentleness and calm," a modest man who never allowed himself the individual glory of the drum solo."
Culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles pays a front-page tribute to "one of the greatest drummers of his generation," the man who drove the musical style of the Stones, and who nourished a life-long love of jazz.
Télérama calls him "a humble aristocrat," whose love of jazz made him the ultimate rock drummer, "a marvellous man".
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