Keith Richards: "Rumors of My Sobriety Are Greatly Exaggerated"

In the new issue of Rolling Stone, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and producer Don Was tell the story behind the Rolling Stones upcoming Exile on Main Street reissue, which is due May 18th in a variety of special editions — several of which feature 10 never-before-heard Stones tracks from the Exile era. At the end of our phoner with Richards, we asked about the possibility of a new Stones studio album in the near future. "There's no definite plans, but I can't see any of them stopping," he says. "I wouldn't be surprised if we did some recording later this year." But the guitarist admits he's uncertain whether any sort of tour would follow. "I don't know how the rest of them feel about roadwork at the moment," he tells RS. "Maybe we'll search for a different way for the Stones to go back on the road. Maybe not the football stadiums anymore. Maybe something different. You can't go around there in lemon-yellow tights forever."

The intimate Rolling Stones: photos from the band's 1969 tour.

Richards also addressed reports he had stopped drinking. "Listen, the rumors of my sobriety are greatly exaggerated," he says. "And we'll leave it at that."

See the new issue of Rolling Stone for much more on the new Exile on Main Street reissue, Keith's forthcoming memoir, the documentary that Johnny Depp is currently prepping about his life, and the next Stones album.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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