Charlie Watts (1941

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Biography

Charles Robert Watts was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.

Timeline

The story of Charlie Watts, told in moments.

1963 Event

Joined the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had been trying to recruit him for months. He was playing jazz and didn't particularly want to join a blues band.

Why didn't you want to join the Rolling Stones? Was jazz always your real love?

1964 Life

Published a children's book, Ode to a High Flying Bird, a tribute to Charlie Parker. He designed the Rolling Stones' tour stages and album artwork for years.

Was publishing a children's book about Charlie Parker the most unexpected thing a Rolling Stone ever did? Did designing tour stages satisfy your visual side?

1989 Event

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Rolling Stones. By then he'd played drums on every one of their studio albums, a streak that would continue until his death.

Does every Rolling Stones studio album with your drums feel like a single unbroken career? Is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame meaningful to a jazz drummer?

Artifacts (15)

Portrait of G. F. Watts, R.A.

Alphonse Legros

1879 · Etching on ivory wove paper

aic View

Portrait of George Frederick Watts

Edward Steichen

1901, printed 1903 · Gum bichromate print

aic View

George Frederick Watts, R.A.

Henry Herschel Hay Cameron

c. 1893 · Photogravure, plate 15 from the album "Lord Tennyson and his Friends" (1893)

aic View

John Watts Statue: From Trinity Churchyard, Looking Toward One Wall Street, Manhattan

Berenice Abbott

February 1, 1938 · Gelatin silver print

aic View

According to the Rolling Stone

The history of the Rolling Stones is told by band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood, who have opened up their personal archives to include many rare and intimate...

2001

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According to the Rolling Stones

Members of the band offer an inside chronicle of their careers as musicians, songwriters, performers, and colleagues, discussing the evolution of their music and their lives.

2003

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Selon les Rolling Stones

Voici l'histoire vraie des Rolling Stones racontée par eux-mêmes. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts et Ronnie Wood ont tous les quatre travaillé à la réalisation de ce formidable projet. Mais...

2003

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The Rolling Stones 50

This is our story of fifty fantastic years of the greatest rock 'n' roll band the world has ever known. Written by us, curated by us, and featuring the very best photographs and ephemera from and...

2012

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How Can it Be?: A Rock & Roll Diary

Before he was a Rolling Stone, a Face, or a member of the Jeff Beck Group, Ron Wood flew the nest aged just 17 with his first band, the Birds. His adventures on the road to stardom were handwritten in...

2015

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Charlie Watts' Favorite Drummers

(Book). In various interviews over the past 35 years Charlie Watts has expressed admiration for the talents of many drummers. But the fundamental connections of those he has noted as his favorites,...

2017

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Aura Weaving: Interpreting and Activating Energy Fields

Luminescent, shifting, and radiant; familiar and yet strange: the colors of the aura are a language that can communicate the emotional and spiritual state of the physical world. Aura Weaving is a...

2025

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Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am.

nd suggesting that references to classical music could be found buried in the feedback, but he also said, "Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am." Lester Bangs declared it "genius",...

Works Talk

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again

974. In October 2019, an audio tape of publicly unknown music by Reed, based on Warhol's 1975 book, "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again", was reported to have been discovered in...

Works Talk

At four in the afternoon we'd all meet at [the bar] The Orange Grove. Me, Delmor...

wartz) was the musician Garland Jeffreys; they remained close friends until the end of Reed's life. Jeffreys recalled Reed's time at Syracuse: "At four in the afternoon we'd all meet at [the bar] The...

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Our Own Story

1964

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Explore what happened on the days that shaped Charlie Watts's life. Today In History connects historical figures with the events, births, and deaths that defined their era. Browse all historical figures or explore today's events.