Shirley Watts, widow of drummer Charlie Watts, dies at 84

Shirley Ann WattsMeet Dr. Dr., a former art student and prominent breeder of Arabian horses Charlie Watts Long before he joined the Rolling Stones and formed one of rock’s most enduring marriages with him, he died. She was 84 years old.

Her family announced on Monday that “Shirley passed away peacefully on Friday 16th December in Devon after a short illness surrounded by her family”. Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones was among those who mourned her.

“We will miss you very much, but comfort you to be reunited with your beloved Charlie,” Wood wrote on Facebook.

while Wood, Mick Jagger And the Keith Richards All having multiple wives and girlfriends, Charlie and Shirley Watts were together for over 50 years, until Charlie passed away in 2021. Their only known crisis occurred in the mid-1980s, when Charlie Watts suffered from heroin addiction, which is when he later struggled. He says it almost cost him his marriage. Otherwise, he was seen as devoted to his wife and daughter, Seraphina, to the point that journalists left him alone.

“I’ve always wanted to be a drummer (and) as long as it’s comfortable with my wife, I’ll keep doing it,” he told Rolling Stone magazine in 1996.

When Charlie wasn’t touring or recording, he and his family lived on a 600-acre 16th-century farm in Devon, better known for their Polish Arabian horses and animal rescue than for being the most unique drummer in rock history. Stories about Watts were as likely to appear in The World of Arabian Horses as they were in the music publication.

Shirley Watts had intimate relationships with Jagger and Richards

According to Charlie, his wife had a warm relationship with Jagger and Richards and, unlike him, played Stones music throughout the house. But Shirley herself expressed ambivalent sentiments, telling Vanity Fair in 1989 that the band’s drug use affected her life “very, very deeply” and that they otherwise had little use for the world of rock stars.

“It was absolutely awful to be sucked into the life of the Rolling Stones,” she said. “I was really lost for 25 years and I could never handle it. There was a lot of anger, a lot of it very deep. I love the people in the group – to a degree. But I’ve always hated the way rock music and its world treat women and especially the attitude of the Rolling Stones.” . There is no respect. “

Shirley Ann Shepherd was born in London in 1938 and was studying sculpture at the Royal College of Art in the early 1960s when she first saw her future husband, who was at the time part of an emerging blues and jazz scene in England that also included Jagger and Richards. They were already dating when Watts joined the Stones early in 1963, and married the following year, just as the band established themselves second only to the Beatles in local popularity.

“She was so funny and witty, and had the most infectious laugh I’ve ever heard,” Charlie Watts said of her when interviewed by The Guardian in 2000. And I loved the world she was in, the world of art and sculpture. I really liked Shirley.”

The biggest scandal in their marriage was their decision to get married. Weddings of rock stars were considered a bad thing at the time, and it was a turn-off for young female fans — the Beatle’s John Lennon was among those who hedged when asked about his home life by reporters.

Without telling the other Stones, Watts married in Bradford and had a quiet lunch at a nearby pub. According to Paul Sexton’s “Charlie’s Good Tonight,” a 2022 biography of the late drummer written in collaboration with his family, Charlie Watts initially denied reports that he was married, telling the Daily Express that “it would do a great disservice to my career if the story got out.” “. But Shirley happily confirmed the news, saying they couldn’t “afford to live apart any longer.”

Neither Charlie nor Shirley liked to draw attention to themselves, but sometimes they did it anyway. Shirley Watts was arrested at Nice Airport in 1971 for attacking customs officials after they reportedly singled out her husband for attention. In 2016, it threatened to sue Polish government officials over the alleged mistreatment of two Arabian mares at a state-run farm.

Shirley Watts also endured a battle with alcoholism, a battle she helped overcome with hours of sculpting horses and dogs. Watts’ shared interest in horses grew from collecting figurines to breeding hundreds of Arabian horses, a passion that began after Charlie purchased a part-stallion for his wife.

“I like my life here a lot with horses,” she told Vanity Fair. “I love hunting. The sense of power one gets on a horse.” “It’s a very primal instinct. When you hear the hounds—they call it music—when you hear the hounds music, it’s very exciting. And it affects you and the horse. There’s nothing like it. It’s dangerous. It’s exciting.”

“It’s like a rock ‘n’ roll concert,” she added with a laugh.

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