Charlie Watts

I have been trying to write this fucking eulogy for 3 days and I just can't get it right.

So today I am going to shoot from the hip.

Charlie Watt's death is devastating.

There was a ton of great music created between 1963 and 1969. It is stunning what happened to the music world in just those 6 years.

Two groups reigned above it all - The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Right there, right at the very beginning they proved how diverse the music could be. The Beatles split up in 1969; The Stones are still playing today.

But it will never be the same.

Since 1975, the heart and soul of this group has been Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. I could explain the changes in the band between 1962 and 1975, and 1992 to now, but you don't really care, do you?

You shouldn't. The only thing you should care about is that Charlie Watts will no longer be staring at Mick Jagger's bum, as Charlie once described it.

By the way, Charlie agreed to join the group in 1963 (he had to be asked twice), but only if they guaranteed to pay him 5 pounds a week. He was already making money with jazz bands.

Charlie and his wife Shirley bred Arabian horses. They lived on a farm in the village of Dolton, England. They have a daughter named Seraphina and a grand-daughter named Charlotte. Charlie had an impressive collection of classic cars but never got a driver's license. 

You will hear him decribed as elegant. And refined. Repeatedly. That is the perfect description of the man. Both in style and in his drumming. Supremely elegant.

He was also a tough cookie. Famous story - Amsterdam 1984. Earlier in the day, the band had a meeting to discuss whether they still wanted to go on as a band because Jagger was embarking on a solo career. Jagger said to Charlie: "None of this should matter to you because you're only my drummer."

Later on, after a drunken night out with Keith, Jagger called Charlie in his hotel room and said "Where's my drummer?" Charlie proceeded to go up to Keith's room, shoved him aside to get to Mick and then punched Jagger in the face, saying "Don't ever call me your drummer again. You're my fucking singer!"

Charlie understood perfectly his role in the band.

He never indulged in the typical excesses of a rock star except for one brief period between 1983 and 1986. He was drinking heavily and using heroin. He pulled out of it and that was that.

Most people consider Mick and Keith the heart and soul of The Stones. But those in the know, musicians and people in the music industry, considered Charlie Watts to be the heart and soul.

Keith Richards is one of them. He has been quoted as saying "Without Charlie there would be no Stones."

Ronnie Wood: "Charlie's the engine. We don't go anywhere without the engine."

That is why his death is such a monumental loss. The absolute core of this group -  one of the most revered and influential bands in all of rock 'n roll - is gone.

After a 58 year run.

Many people question whether The Stones will still be The Stones without Charlie. Many people believe they will not.

I don't get into distinctions like that. I need The Rolling Stones to go on for a while longer. I need it.

But it will never be the same.