Originally trained as a graphic artist, he started playing drums in London’s rhythm and blues clubs, where he met Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards. In January 1963, he joined their fledgling group, the Rolling Stones, as drummer, while doubling as designer of their record sleeves and tour stages. Watts, along with Jagger and Richards, are the only band members to have been featured on all of their studio albums. He cited jazz as a major influence on his drumming style. He toured with his own group, the Charlie Watts Quintet, and appeared in London at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club with the Charlie Watts Tentet.
In 2006, Watts was elected into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame; in the same year, Vanity Fair elected him into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. In the estimation of music critic Robert Christgau, Watts was “rock’s greatest drummer.” In 2016, he was ranked 12th on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time” list.
Who is Charlie Watts?
Charlie Watts is an English drummer, best known as one of the members of the famous and ageless rock ’n’ roll band, the Rolling Stones. He started playing drums with several blues and rock bands in London before joining Rolling Stones in 1963. The initial line-up of the band included Mick Jagger, in lead vocals and harmonica; Keith Richards in guitar; Brian Jones in guitar and harmonica among others. While the former two remain members of the band till present along with Watts, Brian Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969. Apart from being a drummer,
Childhood & Early Life
He was born on June 2, 1941, at the University College Hospital, London, to Charles Richard Watts and Lillian Charlotte (née Eaves). His father served the London Midland & Scottish Railway as a lorry driver.
He and his sister Linda were brought up in Kingsbury.
At the age of ten years he came across jazz and blues music and his early influences include John Coltrane and Miles Davis. By thirteen years of age, he became more interested in drumming and would emulate his jazz drumming heroes by playing a banjo that he had converted into a snare drum.
Watts and one of his childhood neighbours cum friend Dave Green, who became a jazz bass player and remains his friend till date, would listen to music together that included 78 RPM records of American jazz musicians like Charlie Parker and Jelly Roll Morton.
In 1952 he joined the Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School, where he studied till 1956. During his school days he remained a sports enthusiast including football and cricket and also displayed his flair for art.
Career
He started his musical career along with his friend Dave Green in around 1958-59 and played in Jo Jones All Stars, a jazz band, in Middlesex.
In 1960 he joined Charlie Daniels Studios, an advertising company, as a graphic designer. During this time he became associated with a few local bands that saw him occasionally perform as drummer in various clubs and coffee shops in London.
In 1961, he penned down a children_s book, Ode to a High-Flying Bird, a tribute to the jazz legend Charlie Parker, which was later published in 1965. His illustrations and writings in the book reflect his love for art, literature and jazz.
While working as a graphic designer, he accepted the proposal of Alexis Korner and joined the latter_s band Blues Incorporated in early 1962. Later he worked with advertising firm of Charles, Hobson and Grey while playing regularly as a drummer with Blues Incorporated.
Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Ian “Stu” Stewart would often visit the rhythm and blues clubs in London and during one such occasion in mid-1962 they met Watts. They were all members of the newly established English rock band, Rolling Stones.
Though he turned down the proposal of the Rolling Stones earlier, in January 1963 he finally gave his nod and officially joined the band. On January 12, 1963 he played for the first time for the band at the Eagles Blue Club. Till date he remains a part of the Rolling Stones, a band that emerged as the most enduring and popular classic rock n roll band of all times. Its cover of Bobby Womack’s It’s All Over Now zoomed up at the number 3 position on the British pop charts in 1964. The following year they scored (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction that became the number one hit in US. Over the years the Rolling Stones has released several hit albums that include Beggars Banquet (1968), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), It’s Only Rock ’n Roll (1974), Tattoo You (1981) and A Bigger Bang (2005). The album liner of Between the Buttons (1967) and some of the early records of the band were designed by him.
He was responsible behind creative entry of the Rolling Stones during 1975 press conference held at New York City that saw the band playing their hit song Brown Sugar while driving on the back of a flatbed truck. This act not only awestruck the reporters but was later emulated by other rock bands across the globe like AC/DC and U2.
Personal Life & Legacy
He married Shirley Ann Shepherd on October 14, 1964. He has always remained a doting husband. Their only daughter Serafina was born in 1968. Sometime in the 1980s, he and his wife set up Haldson Arabians, a stud farm in Dolton village in west Devon where the couple breed and raise horses. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in June 2004 and underwent radiotherapy treatment and upon recovery he resumed his musical career. He has one granddaughter named Charlotte. Watts is a vegetarian.
Net Worth
As of year 2012, the net worth of Charlie Watts is believed to be US$160 million.