 Although the Rolling Stones have long been shrouded in mystery and darkness -- including the strange drowning of original member Brian Jones and various rumors of occult practice -- the runaway Stones myth involves the drug detox of guitarist Keith Richards in 1973. The notorious substance abuser was so deep in the throes of a heroin addiction, he reportedly took drastic measures to clean up for an important European tour. There is little disputing that Richards underwent treatment in Switzerland; what is disputed is the nature of the treatment. While it was most likely a blood-filtering "hemodialysis process," as Victor Bockris writes in Keith Richards: The Biography, fans have often maintained that the guitarist had a complete blood transfusion, like a premature embalming. It didn't help that Richards once told a journalist that, yes, he had in fact undergone a complete transfusion. "I was just fooling around," he admitted, years later. "I was fucking sick of answering that question."
JAMES SULLIVAN
(Posted Oct. 12, 2004)
 Rock's Wildest Myths Main Page
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