Keith Richards Undergoes Surgery

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards underwent surgery at an Auckland, New Zealand, hospital on Monday after complaining of headaches. A week and a half ago, the sixty-two-year-old rocker had been choppered to Ascot hospital from Fiji and reportedly treated for a mild concussion, sustained after an accident while on vacation there with his wife. While details of the injury remain unclear, reports varied from a fall from a coconut tree to a jet ski accident.

"After complaining of headaches yesterday, doctors thought it prudent to move ahead with a small operation to remove the pressure," a statement from Richards' camp revealed. Although the specific reason for the surgery was not given, it is speculated that the operation was to relieve a blood clot and swelling on the brain.

The alleged tree fall would not be Richards' first share of freak accidents. In 1998, the guitarist suffered three broken ribs and a punctured lung after a fall from a ladder at his home.

The Stones also had to deal with other health issues when drummer Charlie Watts was diagnosed with throat cancer in June 2004, right as Richards and Stones singer Mick Jagger were beginning to work on what would become the band's critically lauded comeback, 2005's A Bigger Bang. Talking to Rolling Stone last August, Richards said of the issue, "OK, shit hits the fan. But the bus is still rolling . . . You can't get off this machine, except when the wheels fall off."

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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