Ronnie Wood | |
|---|---|
_(Ronnie_Wood).jpg) Wood on stage withthe Rolling Stones in 2022 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
|
| Born | Ronald David Wood (1947-06-01)1 June 1947 (age 78) Hillingdon,Middlesex, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Labels | Warner Bros. |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of | |
Spouses | |
| Website | ronniewood |
Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947)[1] is an Englishrock musician, best known as a member ofthe Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member ofFaces andthe Jeff Beck Group.
Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with severalBritish rhythm and blues bands in short succession, includingthe Birds[2] andthe Creation. He joined the Jeff Beck Group in 1967 as a guitarist and bassist, playing on the albumsTruth andBeck-Ola. The group split in 1969, and Wood departed along with lead vocalistRod Stewart to join formerSmall Faces membersRonnie Lane,Ian McLagan andKenney Jones in a new group named Faces with Wood now primarily on lead guitar. The group found great success in the UK and mainland Europe from the early days on, but only reached major fame in the US during their last year of existence, 1975, with a major tour of the US. Wood sang and co-wrote thetitle track from their final LP,Ooh La La, released in 1973. He also worked extensively on Stewart's first few solo albums.
As Faces began to split, he started several solo projects, eventually recording his first solo LP,I've Got My Own Album to Do, in 1974. The album featured bandmate McLagan as well as formerBeatleGeorge Harrison andKeith Richards of the Rolling Stones, a longtime friend of Wood. Soon afterMick Taylor left the Rolling Stones, Richards invited Wood to join them; he did so in 1975, initially temporarily, but became an official member in 1976.[3]
BesidesI've Got My Own Album to Do, Wood has recorded several other solo efforts.Now Look was released in 1975 and peaked at No. 118 onBillboard; he also collaborated with Ronnie Lane for the soundtrack albumMahoney's Last Stand. Wood also releasedGimme Some Neck in 1979, which hit No. 45 in the US;1234 was released in 1981, peaking at No. 164. He releasedSlide on This in 1992,Not for Beginners in 2002,[2] andI Feel Like Playing in 2010. As a member of the Rolling Stones, Wood was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and was inducted a second time, as a member of Faces, in 2012.[4][5]
Wood was born inHillingdon, west London, into a family of English "bargees" (river or canal barge operators, sometimes called "water gypsies"). He has said that his generation was the first in the family to be born on dry land.[6] He grew up in 8 Whitehorn Avenue[7]Yiewsley and attended St Stephen's Infant School, St Matthew's Church of England Primary School and St Martin's C of E Secondary Modern SchoolWest Drayton where one of his drawings was chosen for BBC Sketch Club.[7][8]
Wood's elder brothers,Art and Ted, were graphic artists as well as musicians; all three brothers studied atEaling College of Art.[7] Ted Wood died in 2004 and Art Wood in 2006.[9]
Wood began his career as a professional musician in 1964 as a lead guitarist withthe Birds, aR&B band based inYiewsley,Middlesex. A popular live act with a considerable fan base, the Birds released several singles in the mid-1960s;[10] Wood wrote or co-wrote nearly half the songs the group recorded.[11]
By 1967, the Birds had disbanded, and Wood briefly took part in a project calledSanta Barbara Machine Head which included laterDeep Purple co-founderJon Lord, before joining theJeff Beck Group as a bassist. Along with vocalistRod Stewart, Wood did several tours with Beck and recorded two albums:Truth in 1968 andBeck-Ola in 1969. In between Jeff Beck Group projects, Wood also worked withthe Creation.[12]
In Wood's radio show on 14 November 2011, both Wood andAlice Cooper claimed that Wood performed the bass onthe Crazy World of Arthur Brown's number one hit "Fire";[13] Polly Marshall's biography ofArthur Brown states that "according to the-faces.com, Ronnie claims he played on the Track Records studio sessions recording Fire, but he must have confused it with the BBC session [of 8 April 1968]."[14] There is no bass guitar on the recording, onlybass pedals.[14]
In 1969, afterSteve Marriott left theSmall Faces, Wood began working with the remaining members of that group, returning to his instrument of choice, the guitar. This line-up, plus Rod Stewart and former BirdKim Gardner, teamed up with Wood's brotherArt Wood in a formation called Quiet Melon, making a handful of recordings in May 1969.[12] After the Jeff Beck Group's fifth US tour in July, Wood and Stewart joined the former Small Faces full-time, and the band's name was changed toFaces.[15] During the summer of 1969, Stewart and Wood also set the template for what would become Faces onAn Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down, Stewart's first solo album (known asThe Rod Stewart Album in the US). The backing band on the album also includedIan McLagan,Keith Emerson,Micky Waller, and guitaristsMartin Pugh (ofSteamhammer and laterArmageddon and7th Order) andMartin Quittenton (also from Steamhammer).[16]
In the first half of the 1970s, Faces released four studio albums and were among the top-grossing live acts of the period.[17] Besides his distinctive guitar work, Wood contributed harmonica, vocals, and bass to the band's recordings, and co-wrote many of their songs, including "Stay With Me" and "Ooh La La". He also played on bandmate Stewart's first few solo albums and is co-writer of the Rod Stewart songs "Gasoline Alley"[18] and "Every Picture Tells a Story",[12] as well as several songs onNever a Dull Moment.
In 1972, Wood and Faces bassistRonnie Lane composed the soundtrack to the filmMahoney's Last Stand;[12]the soundtrack, which was released as an LP in 1976, also features Faces bandmatesIan McLagan andKenney Jones, along with contributions fromPete Townshend andRic Grech. Wood also performed with Townshend, Grech,Steve Winwood,Jim Capaldi andEric Clapton at Clapton'sRainbow Concert in 1973.
In 1973, Wood asked his old friendMick Taylor, whom he had known since the early 1960s, to help with his first solo album. In December 1973, Wood collaborated withMick Jagger on the song "It's Only Rock'n Roll (But I Like It)".[19] Eventually, Jagger andKeith Richards also contributed to Wood's solo LP.I've Got My Own Album to Do was released in 1974,[12] having been recorded at Wood's private studio in the basement ofThe Wick, his home near London.
Following Taylor's departure from the Rolling Stones in December 1974, Wood participated in the band's March 1975 recording sessions for their forthcoming albumBlack and Blue.[20][21] Although still a member of Faces, he toured North America with the Rolling Stones in 1975; Faces announced their break-up in December of that year, and Wood was officially declared a member of the Rolling Stones on 23 April 1976.[3]
In the Rolling Stones, Wood plays theslide guitar as Taylor andBrian Jones had done before him, and addedlap steel andpedal steel guitar to the band. Wood's guitar interplay with Richards often blurs the boundaries between lead and rhythm roles,[22] a practice borrowed fromChicago Blues which Richards dubbed "the ancient art of weaving."[23] Wood also occasionally plays bass guitar, as seen during 1975 concert performances of "Fingerprint File", whenMick Jagger played rhythm guitar and bassistBill Wyman moved to synthesiser. The Rolling Stones' single "Emotional Rescue" also features Wood on bass. He has been given credit as a co-writer for over a dozen songs, including "Dance", "Black Limousine", "One Hit (to the Body)", and "Had It With You".
In 1975, Wood released his second solo album,Now Look; his third,Gimme Some Neck, came out in 1979. To promote it, Wood formed and toured withthe New Barbarians, playing 20 concerts in Canada and the US in April/May and theKnebworth Festival in the UK in August.[24][25]
Throughout the 1980s, Wood played as an official member of the Rolling Stones; continued his solo career, releasing the album1234 in 1981; painted; and collaborated with a number of other artists, includingPrince,Bob Dylan,David Bowie,Eric Clapton,Bo Diddley,Ringo Starr andAretha Franklin.
At the 1985Live Aid Concert inPhiladelphia, Wood along with Keith Richards performed in the penultimate set with Bob Dylan. During the performance of "Blowin' in the Wind", one of Dylan's guitar strings broke. Wood gave Dylan his guitar to keep the performance seamless and playedair guitar until a stagehand brought him a replacement.[26]
Wood was made a fully-fledged partner in the Rolling Stones' financial organisation in 1990.[27] During the 1990s, the Rolling Stones released two studio albums and three concert albums, as well as touring in 1990, 1994–95, and 1997–99.[20]
In addition, Wood released his seventh solo album,Slide on This, in 1992; he toured to promote this album in North America and Japan. His appearance in 1993 with former bandmate Rod Stewart onMTV Unplugged resulted in a hit album titledUnplugged...and Seated; the concert album that Wood released in 1993 from his tour was calledSlide on Live: Plugged in and Standing.[20]
Wood also contributed to Bo Diddley's 1996 albumA Man Amongst Men, playing slide guitar on the tracks "Hey Baby", "A Man Amongst Men", and "Oops! Bo Diddley", and guitar on "I Can't Stand It".
Since 2000, Wood has continued to combine solo work with his Rolling Stones schedule. After the 2001 release of his albumNot For Beginners, Wood toured England and Ireland in 2001 and 2002 with his own group,The Ronnie Wood Band. The band included members of his family,Slash,Andrea Corr,Jesse Wood, Martin Wright, Tramper Price,Mark Wells, Leah Wood, andFrankie Gavin. After the tour, a DVD calledFar East Man was released, a song co-written by Ronnie Wood andGeorge Harrison.
Wood toured with the Rolling Stones in 2002 and 2003; in 2004, he performed several one-off concerts and guest appearances, including several appearances with Rod Stewart. Later in the year, the two expressed intentions to finish the studio work on a collaborative album, to be titledYou Strum and I'll Sing. In 2005, however, Wood was again busy with the Rolling Stones as the band recorded theirA Bigger Bang album—although he played on only 10 of the album's 16 tracks. He took part in the accompanying tour, which lasted until August 2007.[20]
In 2005, Wood launched his own record company, Wooden Records, which has released recordings by his daughter Leah,the New Barbarians, and others.
In November 2006, during a break in the Rolling Stones'A Bigger Bang Tour, Wood played guitar on three tracks for British soul artistBeverley Knight's albumMusic City Soul, released in 2007.[20]
On 9 May 2009, Wood, along withRed Hot Chili Peppers membersAnthony Kiedis,Michael "Flea" Balzary,Chad Smith and musicianIvan Neville performed under the name "the Insects" at the fifth annualMusiCares event honouring Kiedis.[28]
On 11 August 2009, Wood joinedPearl Jam on the stage ofShepherd's Bush Empire in London for a performance of "All Along the Watchtower".[29]
On 25 October 2009, Wood, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones joined forces for aFaces performance at London'sRoyal Albert Hall on behalf of the Performing Rights Society's Music Members' Benevolent Fund.Bill Wyman played bass; lead vocals were shared by several performers, notablyMick Hucknall.[30] Rod Stewart, who had earlier denied rumours of plans for a Faces reunion in 2009,[31] was not present. On 2 November 2009, Wood was given an "Outstanding Contribution" award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour ceremony in London.Pete Townshend presented the award.[32][33]
Since 9 April 2010, Wood has presented his own radio show onAbsolute Radio. Airing on Saturday night at 10 pm, the one-hour show consists of Wood playing tracks by artists he has worked with and other personal favourites.[34] In May 2011 Wood won the Sony Radio Personality of the Year award forThe Ronnie Wood Show.[35]
In May 2023, Wood performed at theJeff Beck tribute concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall, sharing the stage with Rod Stewart,Eric Clapton,Kirk Hammett, andJohnny Depp among others and two months later, he made a surprise appearance during theHollywood Vampires concert at O2 Arena in London.[36][37] In 2024, he contributed guitar to a re-release ofMark Knopfler's "Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero" in aid of theTeenage Cancer Trust.[38]
In 2025, Wood worked with Stewart on a new documentary about the Faces, and a new Faces album.[39]
Wood is a well-known visual artist. When he was a child his drawings were featured on theBBC television programmeSketch Club; he won one of that programme's competitions, an achievement he refers to as his "awakening to art".[40] He went on to train at theEaling Art College, as had both his brothers. Other notable musicians such asFreddie Mercury ofQueen andPete Townshend ofthe Who also attended that college in the 1960s.[41]
Wood's paintings, drawings and prints frequently feature icons of popular culture and have been exhibited all over the world. He did the cover artwork to Eric Clapton's 1988 box setCrossroads. Several of his paintings, including a work commissioned byAndrew Lloyd Webber, are displayed atLondon's Drury Lane Theatre.[42] Art criticBrian Sewell has called Wood "an accomplished and respectable artist";[43] and theSouth Bank Show has devoted an entire programme to his artwork.[44] Wood has maintained a long-standing relationship with theSan Francisco Art Exchange, which first exhibited his work in 1987.[45] Wood is also co-owner (along with sons Jamie and Tyrone) of a London art gallery called Scream.[46]
To date, Wood has three books to his credit: a short collection of autobiographical anecdotes titledThe Works, illustrated with Wood's artwork, co-authored byBill German and published in 1988; a limited-edition art book titledWood on Canvas: Every Picture Tells a Story, published in 1998 by Genesis Publications; and his 2007 autobiographyRonnie, written in collaboration with his son-in-law Jack MacDonald andJeffrey Robinson.
In addition to numerous Faces and Rolling Stones concert films, broadcasts and documentaries, Wood performed alongsidethe Band,Bob Dylan, and many others in the finale of the documentaryThe Last Waltz, filmed in 1976.[47] He has made cameo appearances in feature films, includingThe Deadly Bees (1967),The Wild Life (1984) and9½ Weeks (1986), as well as on television programs includingThe Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978).[48][49] In October 2007, Wood appeared on the television motor showTop Gear, achieving a celebrity lap time of 1:49.4.[50]
On 17 October 2017, his autobiographyRonnie Wood: Artist was published.[51]
As a friend ofRonnie O'Sullivan, the snooker player, Wood starred in the eponymous documentary filmRonnie O'Sullivan: The Edge of Everything (2023).[52]
Wood has a long-standing interest inthoroughbred breeding and racing. One of his best-known horses, of which he is the breeder, is Sandymount Duke, who has competed in bothflat andjump racing under trainerJessica Harrington.[53][54] In January 2019, it was announced that Sandymount Duke was being aimed at theGrand National atAintree racecourse.[55][56] However, a setback in training prevented the horse from taking its place in the field.[57]
Wood has six children.Jesse is his son with his first wife, Krissy (née Findlay),[58] a former model to whom he was married from 1971 to 1978.[59] During this time, he had an affair withPattie Boyd, who had been married toGeorge Harrison.[60] Findlay died in 2005.[61] In 1985 Wood married his second wife,Jo Wood (née Karslake),[62] mother of his daughter Leah and son Tyrone. He also adopted Jamie, Jo Wood's son from a previous relationship. In addition to his six children, Wood has six grandchildren.[63]
Wood has been frank about his struggle with alcoholism; although reports between 2003 and 2006 had indicated that he had been sober since the Rolling Stones' 2002–03 tour, in June 2006 it was reported that he was entering rehab following a spell of increased alcohol abuse.[64][65] Jagger was supportive of his sobriety efforts,[39] though Richards was initially sceptical.[66] By July 2008,ITN reported that Wood had checked himself into rehab a total of six times, the last time being before the wedding of his daughter, Leah. He had plans once again for a seventh admission.[67] Wood also took up stamp collecting as part of his alcoholism rehab.[68]
In July 2008, he left his wife forKatia Ivanova, whom he had met in a London club.[69] Wood checked into rehab again on 16 July 2008.[70][71] Jo Wood filed for divorce, which was granted in 2009,[72] though they remained friends.[39] On 3 December 2009, Wood was arrested over assault "in connection with a domestic incident".[73] He was cautioned for this offence on 22 December 2009.[74]
On 21 December 2012, Wood married Sally Humphreys, the owner of a theatre production company, 31 years his junior.[75][76] Their twin girls, named Gracie Jane and Alice Rose, were born on Monday 30 May 2016, just before Ronnie Wood's 69th birthday on 1 June 2016.[77]
Wood was diagnosed withlung cancer in 2017, necessitating the partial removal of one of his lungs. He said he refusedchemotherapy because he did not want to lose his hair.[51] Wood was diagnosed with an aggressive[78]small-cell cancer in 2020 and, following treatment atRoyal Marsden Hospital in west London,[39] subsequently announced the diagnosis and the "all-clear" by his doctors in April 2021.[78]
Amid the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Wood shared a message on social media aimed at encouraging others unable to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to stay sober.[79] In 2025, he stated he had been "clean and serene" for 15 years, and smoke-free for 9 years.[39]
On 12 October 2025, Wood was a guest onBBC Radio 4Desert Island Discs and chose as his luxury itemsartists' materials and hisharmonica. He also recalled his sadness at losing hischildhood sweetheart, Stephanie de Court, on 31 May 1964 in a car accident on the eve of his seventeenth birthday. In his 2007 autobiographyRonnie, he wrote that her death, alongside her two friends, contributed to his subsequent alcohol addiction, as his way of dealing with the grief.[80][81]
He is a fan of EnglishEFL Championship football clubWest Bromwich Albion.[82]
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Live albums | |
| Compilations | |
| Soundtrack albums | |
| Songs | |
| Bands | |
| Family |
|
| Related articles | |
