The 80-year-old drummer pulls out of the 'No Filter' tour this fall because he is 'working hard to get fully fit' after undergoing a certain medical procedure.
- Aug 5, 2021
AceShowbiz - Charlie Watts will miss out on The Rolling Stones' U.S. tour this year. After he drops out of the upcoming show due to health concerns, the drummer is said to be replaced by Steve Jordan.
The English rock band announced the news via Instagram on Thursday, August 5. "A spokesman for Charlie Watts has confirmed that the Rolling Stones drummer is unlikely to be available for the resumption of the Rolling Stones USA 'No Filter' Tour this fall," they began.
"Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation," so read the spokesman's statement. "With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it's very disappointing to say the least, but it's also fair to say no one saw this coming."
The 80-year-old, meanwhile, explained, "For once my timing has been a little off. I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while. 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." He added, "I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me."
Steve himself noted that it's such "an absolute honour and a privilege to be Charlie's understudy." He further elaborated, "I am looking forward to rehearsing with [Mick Jagger], [Keith Richards] and [Ronnie Wood]. No-one will be happier than me to give up my seat on the drum-riser as soon as Charlie tells me he is good to go."
Charlie was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2004. Luckily, he beat it after undergoing two surgeries. "I thought I was going to die," he told the BBC in 2011. "I thought that's what you did. You get cancer and waste away and die. I had another operation to take the lymph nodes out and radio therapy, which was six weeks long. Now it's five years clear."
