Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts is dead

“We are deeply saddened to announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts,” his agent Bernard Doherty said in a statement, adding that he had “died quietly earlier in a London hospital, surrounded by his family”.

“Charlie was a much-loved husband, father and grandfather and a member of the Rolling Stones and one of the best drummers of his generation,” Doherty said.

A spokesman for the artist had announced in early August that he would not be participating in the group’s US tour planned for the fall, for medical reasons. “Charlie underwent a successful operation,” but his doctors believe he needs to rest, he said at the time without further clarification.

“Elegant”

The drummer, who turned 80 in June, has been a member of Rolling Stone since 1963. Along with lead player Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards, Charlie Watts is one of the oldest members of the great rock band. Even Ronnie Wood or Bill Wyman.

With his immovable face and unanimously recognized talent for binary rhythms, he provided a counterpoint to Mick Jagger’s frantic and guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood’s electrical work.

He was “a very handsome man and in such excellent company” that on this “very sad day” singer Elton John tweeted his condolences to Watts’ wife Shirley Shepherd and their daughter Serafina since he was 50. He lived a quiet life on an Arab stud farm in Devon, southern England.

“God bless Charlie Watts, you will miss,” Beatles drummer Ringo Starr greeted on Facebook, offering “peace and love” to the deceased’s family.

Oasis band singer Liam Gallagher and the Kiss band paid tribute to the drummer with a simple “RIP Charlie Watts” (“Requiscott at speed”, “Relax quietly”) on their official Twitter account.

Born in London on June 2, 1941, Charlie Watts, a self-taught drummer, had to watch and play with players at London jazz clubs. “I never went to a school to learn to play jazz. I didn’t like it. I liked jazz emotionally.”

Throughout his life with Rolling Stone, he continued to jazz in parallel, holding his drumstick upside down while hitting the big tip. He recorded several discs in his name with a quintet (Charlie Watts quintet) and then a dixstore (Charlie and Dented Watts).

In 2004, Mr. Watts was treated for throat cancer at the Royal Marston Hospital in London, from which he recovered after four months of struggle, including six months of intensive radiation therapy.