Keith Richards Tried To Make Ronnie Wood Feel Like A “Weakling”

Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood said bandmate Kieth Richards gave him a hard time and made him feel like a “weakling” when he first tried to quit drugs and alcohol. Wood attempted at rehab efforts in 2005 and was able to return to work with the band shortly after, though he immediately fell back on his old ways.

In a recent  interview with Mojo, Wood said, “I do remember going on stage clean for the first time. It was at this club in Canada for the start of a tour. I was like this [terrified] and Mic whispered, ‘It’s alright, you can do it, don’t worry.’” He continued: “And Keith’s going, ‘Rehab’s for quitters!’ Trying to make out I was the weakling. But it takes a lot of strength to do this, if indeed I’m gonna be able to do it at all… there’s no guarantees.”

Wood revealed that he finally managed to rid himself of the addiction without the help of rehab, saying, “You sometimes wonder if they want you to go out and drink again… it’s big money for them. Do they want you to fall off the wagon and come back and pay them another huge amount of money? So I left rehab and did it for myself.”

“I felt I knew what to do – Fellowship. I did 90 meetings in 90 days and I did the same again. Didn’t need the rehab place – I did it through the meetings,” Wood added. In early 2019, Wood said that all the major factors were kicked off his system, “I’ve knocked the hard stuff on the head. I have a little wine with meals, and a Guinness or a beer or two, but otherwise no. It’s like heroin – the experiment is over. Quitting heroin is like hell, but it’s a short hell… Cigarettes are just always there… I’ve managed to cut it down by a substantial amount every day, and I’m still working on it. Because I realized I don’t need it. I realized it’s just a useless habit.”