Keith Richards. The name alone carries with it mountainous legends that seem to defy the bounds of maximum human and artistic potential.
The man has been around for a minute. He’s seen a thing or two, and he certainly has some larger-than-life stories to tell. Just in case you didn’t know though, Keith Richards is an acclaimed English musician, songwriter, singer, and record producer. He’s an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of that humble band, The Rolling Stones. It was his songwriting partnership with The Rolling Stones’ lead vocalist, Mick Jagger, that would end up being one of the most successful of all time. We’ll take a look at some of the most infamous quotes from Keith Richards himself.
1. On the origins of good music
“Good music comes out of people playing together, knowing what they want to do and going for it. You have to sweat over it and bug it to death. You can’t do it by pushing buttons and watching a TV screen.”
2. On the rock ‘n’ roll life
“This is the rock ‘n’ roll life, and you had to invent it as you went along. There was no textbook to say, how you operate this machinery.”
3. On part of the writing process
“I look for ambiguity when I’m writing because life is ambiguous.”
4. On the weird nature of songwriting
“Songwriting’s a weird game. I never intended to become one. I fell into this by mistake, and I can’t get out of it. It fascinates me. I like to point out the rawer points of life.”
5. On being mindful of the ego
“To me, my biggest fear is getting a big head, and that is when I get the hammer. Because it’s very easy in this game to believe you’re something special.”
6. On self-reflection
“About myself I have no great illusions. I know what I am. I know what I’m good at. I know what I ain’t. I’m always hoping to surprise myself. But I do have a love of music and I do love to communicate it, and that’s the best I can do, really. And I can raise a good family, too.”
7. On haircuts
“I’ve never had my hair cut by anybody, I do it all myself.”
8. On the necessity of music
“Music is a necessity. After food, air, water, and warmth, music is the next necessity of life.”
9. On storytelling
“Everybody’s got a different way of telling a story, and has different stories to tell.”
10. On style
“You don’t find a style. A style finds you.”
11. On aging
“We age not by holding on to youth, but by letting ourselves grow and embracing whatever youthful parts remain.”
12. On true friends
“True friends. Hardest thing to find, but you never look for them. They found you. You just grow into each other.”
13. On the motivation to write songs
“What is it that makes you want to write songs? In a way, you want to stretch yourself into another people’s hearts. You want to plant yourself there, or at least get a resonance, where other people become a bigger instrument than the one you’re playing.”
14. On Keith Richards himself
“Some things get better with age. Like me.”
15. On being alone
“I’ve never had inner turmoil about all this. You find a lot of people these days who cannot stand to be alone. You could lock me up in solitary for weeks on end, and I’d keep myself amused.”
