Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts Dead at Age 80

Rolling Stones Drummer Charlie Watts Dead at Age 80
Charlie Watts of British veteran rockers The Rolling Stones performs with his band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood during a concert on their Latin America Ole Tour in Santiago, Chile on Feb. 3, 2016. Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters
Zachary Stieber
Updated:

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts passed away on Aug. 24 at a hospital.

Watts, 80, “passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family,” the drummer’s spokesperson said in a statement.

“Charlie was a cherished husband, father, and grandfather and also as a member of The Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation,” the spokesperson added.

The cause of death was not made public and Watts’ family is asking for privacy.

The band said recently that Watts, who joined the band in early 1963, was going to miss its upcoming United States tour after undergoing a medical procedure.

Watts said in a statement at the time that he had been “working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while.”

Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones poses for a portrait in New York on Nov. 14, 2016. (Victoria Will/Invision/AP)
Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones poses for a portrait in New York on Nov. 14, 2016. Victoria Will/Invision/AP

“After all the fans’ suffering caused by Covid, I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me,” he said.

The tour is slated to start on Sept. 16 in St. Louis, Missouri, followed by shows in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Louisiana, California, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan.

Watts was previously found to have throat cancer but recovered after several surgeries.

Zachary Stieber
Zachary Stieber
Senior Reporter
Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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