“It’s like a ball and chain”: why Keith Richards grew to resent his rebel persona
Since the dawn of rock and roll, guitarists have had a reputation for being wild and rebellious, the harbingers of the rock revolution. However, nobody has embodied that image quite as adeptly as The Rolling Stones’ deranged axeman Keith Richards. Famed as much for his offstage antics as the incredible riffs he recorded for the legendary band, Richards developed an all-encompassing persona that screamed sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Seemingly, though, the octogenarian has mellowed over the years and no longer identifies with his once-wild persona.
When The Rolling Stones first emerged from London’s blues scene during the early 1960s, they represented the apogee of the era’s adolescent rebellion. Encapsulating the spirit of Britain’s disenfranchised post-war youth, The Stones were viewed as a serious threat by the nation’s establishment. Inspiring young people across the land to grow out their hair and listen to hard and fast rock and roll records, the blues devotees orchestrated a phenomenon of wild youth activity, and Keith Richards was at the very forefront of that spirit.
Even during the band’s early years, Richards was already making headlines for his outrageous behaviour. As The Stones progressed, those headlines only became more frequent and inexplicable. From drug busts to house fires, Richards became a tabloid sensation, and his antics were followed with adoration by The Stones’ devoted fanbase. However, Richards was never going to remain wild and rebellious forever.
The Rolling Stones have been afforded an unparalleled career within rock and roll, both in terms of quality and duration. Continuously active for over six decades, the once youthful faces of the 1960s are now weathered old men with grandchildren and pensioners’ bus passes. Inevitably, the band members aren’t quite as wild as they once were, yet Keith Richards still has an expectation of anarchy attached to him.
When the guitarist appeared on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs in 2015, he opened up to Kirsty Young about the restrictive nature of this anarchic personality. “That’s the image, and it’s like a ball and chain,” he shared. “I recognise it; I’m in that sort of jail.” It seems as though, no matter how old or mellow Keef becomes, he will never truly be able to escape the press persona attached to him all the way back in the 1960s.
To his credit, Richards is not all doom and gloom about this inescapable persona. “At the same time, I do love old Keith, and I do love the way people cotton on to him,” he said. “It’s one part of me, but a lot of that’s in the past. I’m growing up or evolving.” It is probably a good thing that, in his twilight years, the guitarist has decided to grow up a little, even if it means the rock world will lose a real loose cannon in the process.
Even if Keith Richards has moved away from his previously anarchic lifestyle, the rebellious spirit of the Keef persona lives on through the countless modern rock musicians attempting to follow in his footsteps. “I watch other people rebel now, really,” Richards shared, commenting on the new generations of rockers attempting to evoke the atmosphere fostered by The Rolling Stones back in their revolutionary heyday.
What’s more, Richards largely has that rebellious persona to thank for his lasting impact on the landscape of rock and roll. There have been countless talented guitarists and songwriters to come and go over the decades, but Richards has managed to retain his relevance thanks both to the quality of his songwriting and the endearingly rebellious part of his persona.
