Ronnie Wood Reveals His Biggest Regret

Although Ronnie Wood wasn’t a part of the Rolling Stones from the beginning, he is still inextricably linked to the band’s legacy.

In the mid-1960s, while Wood was carving out his own niche in the London music scene, he looked up to the Stones as a point of inspiration. He got close with the band in the early 1970s, co-writing the album’s title track with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, and replacing Mick Taylor on the road in 1975. Wood’s probation period ended a year after Black and Blue was released, and he was formally initiated as a Stone at that time. However, not much can he remember from this, and Wood has expressed regret about his forgetfulness after reflecting on his eventful six-decade career.

Speaking with NME in 2015, Wood said: “One regret I have, going back through this diary, is that I can’t remember what a lot of my girlfriends looked like years ago. I don’t regret the drinking. I drank for Britain until I got sober five years ago. That was a learning curve I had to go through – but not remembering the wonderful girls is a regret.”

He merely remembered everything when and was in need of help to recall events that were done years ago. Lucky for him his 2015 memoir helped in documenting those special events. “‘In The Midnight Hour’ [by Wilson Pickett] was the biggest record there was for me,” Wood continued. “But I’d forgotten all about our adventure together until I picked up the diary.”