May 18, 2025
Ronnie Wood just revealed that Rolling Stones’ long-lived success is because they don’t “over familiarize.”
The 77-year-old who became a part of the legendary group in 1975, 13 years after they were formed, stays in contact with members Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
However, he has explained that all of them don’t "over-familiarize" themselves with one another, which he believes is the reason behind their longevity.
“We’re not on the phone to each other every five minutes. When we’re not touring we keep in touch, just to keep the feelers in each other’s camp, but we don’t over-familiarize – we run on faith and truth,” he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Wood added, "We have faith in our music, and we always have hope that people will keep turning up, and sure enough they do.”
Rolling Stones’ most recent album 2023, Hackney Diamonds generated best sales but the guitarist admitted he still has “no idea” what chart places mean these days.
“In the old days we used to have the charts, and you’d be able to plot things and feel a part of it. You’d look at the Melody Maker and say, ‘Look! We’re number 50!’ or whatever. And then you’d creep up the charts,” he recalled.
"It gave young bands so much ambition and something to look forward to. I’ve no idea where we are on the charts now,” Ronnie Wood concluded.