Keith Richards has spent decades building a reputation as rock music’s ultimate survivor. Now, at 82 years old, the Rolling Stones legend reflected on his remarkable longevity and revealed the one habit he finally decided to leave behind.
The guitarist has weathered countless headlines about his wild lifestyle over the years, making it all the more surprising that his latest revelation isn’t about excess, but restraint. As the Rolling Stones prepare to release another album, Richards is looking back on a life that has outlasted many expectations.
Keith Richards opens up about “childish” addiction to nicotine
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Keith Richards shared that he quit smoking cigarettes six years ago after more than five decades of the habit.
Reflecting on the decision, Richards explained, “Suddenly, I felt like after all these years of smoking — because, you know, a man smokes — I was sat around with this silly thing in my mouth thinking: how childish.”
The Rolling Stones icon added that the realization itself was enough to make him stop. “It was that that put me off more than anything,” he said, though he admitted, “I smoke a lot of weed.”
Richards also spoke candidly about how he’s managed to reach his eighties after years of hard living. “I tended to listen to my body just before it screamed for help,” he told The Guardian. “I wasn’t far from the end of the runway before I screamed for help. But you tend to slow down if you want to keep going; you pace yourself.”
The comments come as Richards, along with bandmates Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood, prepares for the release of the Rolling Stones’ new album, Foreign Tongues. The record arrives less than three years after Hackney Diamonds, continuing a late-career, creative streak few expected from a band now more than six decades into its run.
Despite becoming a great-grandfather and entering his ninth decade, Richards insists he has no interest in becoming overly serious about aging.
“I mean, you do suddenly turn around and say: Christ, I’m 82,” he said. “I don’t know: is it called maturing or something like that? God forbid.”
TELL US – WERE YOU SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT KEITH RICHARDS FINALLY QUIT SMOKING CIGARETTES?
Originally reported by Vanshika Vasundhare Singh on Reality Tea
