69 Facts About Keith Richards

Keith Richards was born in and grew up in Dartford, Kent.

Keith Richards studied at the Dartford Technical School and Sidcup Art College.

Outside of his career with the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards has played with his own side-project, The X-Pensive Winos.

Keith Richards appeared in three Pirates of the Caribbean films as Captain Teague, father of Jack Sparrow, whose look and characterisation was inspired by Richards himself.

In 1989, Keith Richards was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2004 into the UK Music Hall of Fame with the Rolling Stones.

The magazine lists fourteen songs that Keith Richards wrote with the Rolling Stones' lead vocalist Jagger on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.

Keith Richards was born on 18 December 1943 at Livingston Hospital, in Dartford, Kent, England.

Keith Richards is the only child of Doris Maud Lydia and Herbert William Richards.

Keith Richards's father was a factory worker who was wounded in the Second World War during the Normandy invasion.

Keith Richards has said that it was Dupree who gave him his first guitar.

Keith Richards's grandfather 'teased' the young Richards with a guitar that was on a shelf that Richards couldn't reach at the time.

Keith Richards then devised all manner of ways of reaching the guitar, including putting books and cushions on a chair, until finally getting hold of the instrument, after which his grandfather taught him the rudiments of Keith Richards's first tune, "Malaguena".

Keith Richards played at home, listening to recordings by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and others.

Keith Richards attended Wentworth Primary School with Mick Jagger and was his neighbour until 1954 when the Keith Richards and Jagger families both moved.

From 1955 to 1959, Keith Richards attended Dartford Technical High School for Boys.

At this point, Keith Richards had learned most of Chuck Berry's solos.

Keith Richards met Jagger again by chance on a train platform when Jagger was heading for classes at the London School of Economics.

Keith Richards's parents divorced at about the same time, resulting in his staying close to his mother and remaining estranged from his father until 1982.

Keith Richards is a vocalist, singing backing vocals on many Rolling Stones songs as well as occasional lead vocals, such as on the Rolling Stones' 1972 single "Happy", as well as with his side project, the X-Pensive Winos.

Former keyboardist Ian Stewart once said that Keith Richards was the Rolling Stones' bandleader; however, Keith Richards has said that his job is merely "oiling the machinery".

Unlike many bands where the drummer sets the pace and acts as a timesetter for a song, Keith Richards fills that role for the Rolling Stones.

Chris Spedding calls Keith Richards's guitar playing "direct, incisive and unpretentious".

Keith Richards says he focuses on chords and rhythms, avoiding flamboyant and competitive virtuosity and trying not to be the "fastest gun in the west".

Keith Richards prefers teaming with at least one other guitarist and has almost never toured without one.

In 1975 Taylor was replaced by Wood, whose arrival marked a return to a guitar interplay Keith Richards called "the ancient art of weaving", which he and Jones had gleaned from Chicago blues.

Keith Richards often removes the lowest string from his guitar, playing with only five strings, as the lower string just "gets in the way" of Keith Richards's playing, letting the band's bass player pick up those notes.

Keith Richards has stated that banjo tuning was the inspiration for this tuning.

Keith Richards has sung backing vocals on every Rolling Stones album.

The first top-ten hit for the Rolling Stones with a Jagger and Keith Richards original was "The Last Time" in early 1965; " Satisfaction" was their first international number one recording.

Keith Richards has stated that the "Satisfaction" riff came to him in his sleep; he woke up just long enough to record it on a cassette player by his bed.

Keith Richards has been active as a music producer since the 1960s.

Keith Richards was credited as producer and musical director on the 1966 album Today's Pop Symphony, one of manager Andrew Loog Oldham's side projects, although there are doubts about how much Richards was actually involved with it.

In early 1973, Jagger and Keith Richards developed an interest in the band Kracker, resulting in a deal whereby the band's second album was licensed for distribution outside America by Rolling Stones Records, making Kracker the first band on that label.

Since the 1980s Keith Richards has chalked up numerous production and co-production credits on projects with other artists including Aretha Franklin, Johnnie Johnson, and Ronnie Spector, as well as on his own albums with the X-Pensive Winos.

Keith Richards's first solo single, released in 1978, was a cover of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run", backed with his version of Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come".

In December 1974 Keith Richards made a guest appearance at a Faces concert.

Since the 1980s Keith Richards has made more frequent guest appearances.

Keith Richards has worked with Tom Waits on three occasions: adding guitar and backing vocals to Waits's album Rain Dogs ; co-writing, playing on, and sharing the lead vocal on "That Feel" on Bone Machine ; and adding guitar and vocals to Bad As Me.

Keith Richards partnered with Levon Helm on "Deuce and a Quarter" for Scotty Moore's album All the King's Men.

Additionally, in December 2007 Keith Richards released a download-only Christmas single via iTunes of "Run Rudolph Run"; and the B-side was a 2003 recorded version of the famous reggae song "Pressure Drop" featuring Toots Hibbert singing with Keith Richards backed by original Maytals band members Jackie Jackson and Paul Douglas.

Keith Richards was away on tour at the time, something he said has haunted him since.

Keith Richards was criticised at the time for performing that night after learning of the death, but he later said it was the only way he could cope.

In September 2014 Keith Richards published a children's book with Theodora, Gus and Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar.

Keith Richards has five grandchildren, three from his son Marlon and two from his daughter Angela.

Eleven days prior to its release, the Associated Press published an article stating that in the book Keith Richards refers to Jagger as "unbearable" and notes that their relationship has been strained "for decades".

Jagger thought that Keith Richards's image had "contributed to him becoming a junkie".

Keith Richards has been tried on drug-related charges five times: in 1967, twice in 1973, in 1977, and in 1978.

Keith Richards was found guilty of allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property and sentenced to one year in prison.

Keith Richards was tried in October 1978, pleading guilty to possession of heroin.

Keith Richards was given a suspended sentence and put on probation for one year, with orders to continue treatment for heroin addiction and to perform a benefit concert on behalf of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind after a blind fan testified on his behalf.

In June 2013, Keith Richards said that he would retire with his family to Parrot Cay or Jamaica if he knew his death was coming.

Keith Richards is a keen fan of shepherd's pie, a British traditional dish.

On 27 April 2006, while in Fiji, Keith Richards slipped off the branch of a dead tree and suffered a head injury.

Keith Richards subsequently underwent cranial surgery at a New Zealand hospital.

The revised tour schedule included a brief statement from Keith Richards apologising for "falling off my perch".

In 2012, Keith Richards joined the 11th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.

Keith Richards said he stopped being a Beatles fan in 1967 when they visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, but this did not prevent him from playing bass in John Lennon's pickup band The Dirty Mac for a performance of the Beatles' song "Yer Blues" in the Stones' Rock and Roll Circus in December 1968.

Keith Richards's choices consisted of his favourite 1960s comedy shows, cartoons and thrillers, interspersed with interviews, rare musical performances and night imagery.

On 26 February 2012 Keith Richards paid tribute to fellow musicians Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen, who were the recipients of the first annual PEN Awards for songwriting excellence at the JFK Presidential Library in Boston, Massachusetts.

Keith Richards performed the Fats Domino song "I'm Ready" with the house band.

Keith Richards was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow.

An official statement released by a family representative stated that Keith Richards kept a vigil by her bedside during her last days.

Keith Richards made a cameo appearance as Captain Teague, the father of Captain Jack Sparrow, in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, released in May 2007, and won the Best Celebrity Cameo award at the 2007 Spike Horror Awards for the role.

Keith Richards reprised his role in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, released in May 2011.

Keith Richards donated the fee for his involvement to the Climate Project, an organisation for raising environmental awareness.

In September 2009 Keith Richards told Rolling Stone magazine that in addition to anticipating a new Rolling Stones album, he had done some recording with Jack White: "I enjoy working with Jack", he said.

Keith Richards appeared in the 2011 documentary Toots and the Maytals: Reggae Got Soul, which was featured on BBC and described as "The untold story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica".

Keith Richards's amplifier preferences have changed repeatedly, but he is a long-time proponent of using low-powered amps in the studio, getting clarity plus distortion by using two amps, a larger one such as a Fender Twin run clean, along with a Fender Champ, which is overdriven.

In 1965, Keith Richards used a Gibson Maestro fuzzbox to achieve the distinctive tone of his riff on " Satisfaction"; the success of the resulting single boosted the sales of the device to the extent that all available stock had sold out by the end of 1965.