How family inspired Keith Richards to become a rock hero
One of rock and roll’s ultimate hellraisers, The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has lived an extraordinary life. His career path has seen him reach levels that ordinary people usually do not, in both the soaring highs and crushing lows. Not afraid to push life to its very limit, it is widely considered a miracle that Richards – a man who once claimed to have snorted his father’s ashes – is still alive today.
Richards is an interesting character in that you never know what you’ll get from him. After all, he’s found infamy – alongside his exploits – as one of the prickliest rockers in the business, not afraid to insult his fellow musicians whenever he sees fit. From Elton John to his songwriting partner Mick Jagger, many have felt the sting of his vitriol over the years.
Given his status as one a bonafide rock star and everything that comes as a part of this role, many people often forget that, before all else, Richards is still a human. While he has consistently espoused tenderness in his time, it has been overshadowed by the stark nature of some of his most notorious deeds – including nearly setting the Playboy Mansion on fire.
There’s much to be said for Richards’ more human side, though. In the 2015 documentary Keith Richards: Under The Influence, he revealed how family inspired him to become the rockstar fans have loved for 60 years.
In the movie, Richards explained that his primary early musical influence was his mother, Doris. “My Mum was a beautiful music freak with incredible taste,” he recalls at one point in the documentary. “She was a wizard of the dial — if there was anything worth listening to [on the radio], she would find it.”
Doris introduced her son to musical refinement from jazz heroes such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughn, and even “a little dash of Mozart here and there”.
Doris is also the reason why Richards would be a lifelong adherent of country music, something that has been a defining aspect of The Rolling Stones at points. “We didn’t hear a lot of it in England, but I was well aware of it,” he explains. “My mother made sure of that.”
Elsewhere, Richards’ grandfather, Gus, is the man responsible for him becoming a guitar-playing legend. He says he “teased” him into picking up the instrument. “When you can reach it, I’ll let you play it,” Gus told him when he was young. Eventually, when Richards was tall enough to reach it, Gus urged him to learn the Spanish standard ‘Malagueña’ because “it’s got a lot of moves in it that make it great for the fingers”. Remarkably, learning this piece would form the basis of Richards’ now-iconic fingerpicking style.
