Hard-living Rolling Stones guitarist says he hasn’t been on the hard booze for about a year

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Keith Richards, the legendarily hard-living guitarist of the Rolling Stones, has quit drinking – almost – saying he “just got fed up with it”.

Despite inspiring an industry of memes celebrating his unreconstructed lifestyle, Richards has told Rolling Stone magazine that he has more or less quit the booze.

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“It’s been about a year now,” Richards said. “I pulled the plug on it. I got fed up with it.”

Richards, 74, who has said his favourite tipple for decades has been Jack Daniels whiskey or vodka, said he still had a glass of wine occasionally and a beer.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Keith Richards was known for his love of Jack Daniels whiskey. Photograph: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images

“It was time to quit. Just like all the other stuff,” he told the magazine, referring to his past addiction to cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs. Richards has previously said he quit drugs after being arrested for heroin possession in Canada in 1977.

His bandmate, Ron Wood, who battled alcoholism for years, said Richards was easier to work with since giving up drink.

“Much more mellow. He’s open to more ideas,” Wood said in the interview, published on Wednesday.

“I think the Keith that we used to know and love had this cutoff point where if he had one more, he’d go over the top and he’d be nasty. The cutoff point became shorter and shorter, you know, and he realized that,” Wood added.

The Rolling Stones will launch their next North American tour in April.