The Rolling Stones are planning to hit the road next month for a U.S. concert tour despite this week’s death of Charlie Watts, the legendary British rock group’s drummer of more than 50 years.
Concerts West, a Los Angeles company promoting the group’s upcoming U.S. tour, was quoted Thursday as confirming the band will embark on the next American leg of its “No Filter” tour next month.
“The Rolling Stones’ tour dates are moving ahead as planned,” Concerts West said in the statement.
The statement was first reported by the unaffiliated Rolling Stone magazine one month shy of the first of a dozen scheduled tour dates. The trek is scheduled to start in St. Louis Sept. 26.
Mr. Watts died in a London hospital Tuesday, his publicist told reporters. He was 80 years old.
Hardly two weeks earlier, the Stones announced that Watts had recently undergone an unexpected and unspecified medical procedure and that drummer Steve Jordan planned to perform in the U.S. tour in his place.
Mr. Jordan said at the time that it was an “absolute honor and a privilege” to be Watts’ understudy and that he looked forward to rehearsing with the Stones before filling in for the drummer.
Watts had drummed for the Stones since 1963. The group was formed a year earlier in London by singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards; Watts was the longest-tenured band member besides them.
The upcoming leg of the “No Filter” tour consists of a dozen concerts that were scheduled to make up for several that had been planned for 2020 but were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Jagger, 78, and Mr. Richards, 77, lead the Stones alongside guitarist Ronnie Wood, 74, who joined the group in 1975. Several touring musicians typically perform with the group on stage as well.
It remains to be seen whether the tour will unfold as planned, however. Numerous major artists recently have called off concert plans over concerns about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
For example, fellow septuagenarian and rock legend Neil Young said this month that he will not play at the annual Farm Aid benefit concert he co-founded.
“I worry about audiences coming together in these times,” Mr. Young said. “My soul tells me it would be wrong to risk having anyone die because they wanted to hear music and be with friends.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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