The guitarist drew a lovely picture of his former bandmate and posted it on Instagram Thursday. Watts held a saxophone in the photo.
Wood hits the road with Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Steve Jordan for the No Filter Tour. Watts died on Aug. 24 from an undisclosed illness and had previously announced he would not tour.
According to The Daily Mail, Watts designed the Rolling Stones’ record sleeves and tour stages.
Wood A Longtime Artist
Wood drew as a child and was featured on the BBC, winning a competition. The contest sparked his interest, and he went on to train at Ealing Art College. Other famous alums of the school were Queen singer Freddie Mercury and Who singer-bassist Pete Townshend.
But in the 1960s, music became his passion. He played with a few bands before landing with the Rolling Stones in 1976. Since then, he’s painted, worked on prints, and done drawings like his recent Watts one.
Sadly, Wood didn’t design any of the Rolling Stones album covers. That honor went to Craig Braun. He was the go-to designer of album covers in the 1960s and ’70s. He also came up with the working Andy Warhol zipper for the band’s “Sticky Fingers” album.
Wood Reveals More On Singer Friendship
The 74-year-old talked to Rolling Stone magazine about his friendship with Mick Jagger and another former bandmate, Rod Stewart, in light of Watts’s death.
To Wood, it’s all about being calm and reassuring.
“They love genuine support. They like to hear, “Hey, man, you did a good job.” Because they’re selling it. … Jagger is doing his Jagger, and Rod is doing the Rod, but underneath, they want to know that they’re on the right track because they value what they do really importantly,” he said to Rolling Stone.
Wood seemed to know the formula since he’s been strumming the guitar since 1964. After a few bands, he played with the band Small Faces where he hooked up with Stewart in 1969. Years later, Keith Richards lured him to play with the Rolling Stones.
“The first thing to them is how to please the audience and to give the best — the best show, the best album, the best presentation of music,” Wood explained.
Cancer Battle On His Terms
Wood had bouts of cancer in 2017 and 2019 that needed chemotherapy treatment. With the support of his wife, Sally, and some time at his countryside home painting, he’s ready to go with The Rolling Stones.
“I had the space to handle it on my own terms rather than it being a public thing,” he told Rolling Stone magazine. “Lots of people say to me, ‘You didn’t tell me. I would have helped you.’ And I’d say, ‘I didn’t want to bother anyone. I just wanted to handle this on my own and come through it on my own.’ “
St. Louis, Missouri, is the first stop (Sept. 26) for The Rolling Stones No Filter US Tour leg. The tour concludes on Nov. 20 in Austin, Texas.
