Guitarist of the Rolling Stones

Background:

“We were barred from so many hotels, the entire Holiday Inn chain, that we had to check in as Fleetwood Mac lots of times.” Ron Wood (about touring with the Rolling Stones)

British musician, songwriter and record producer Ron Wood, also credited as Ronnie Wood, is well-known as the guitarist and bassist of the legendary rock group The Rolling Stones. Replacing Mick Taylori, he officially joined the group in 1976 and was involved in recording the Stones' albums “Some Girls” (1978), “Emotional Rescue” (1980), “Tattoo You” (1981), “Steel Wheels” (1989), “Voodoo Lounge” (1994) and “A Bigger Bang” (2005). He also toured intensively with the group. Wood and the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Prior to his association with the Rolling Stones, Wood played in various groups, including the Faces (formerly the Small Faces). Founded in 1969, the rock group managed to release three albums before disbanding in 1975. In addition to serving as lead and rhythm guitarist for the Faces, Wood also co-wrote the popular single “Stay With Me,” with band member Rod Stewart, and other singles like “Flying,” “Had Me a Real Good Time,” and “Ooh La La.” As a soloist, Wood has released a number of albums since his 1974 debut “I've Got My Own Album to Do.” Others include “Gimme Some Neck” (1979), “1234” (1981), “Slide on This” (1992), “Not for Beginners” (2001) and “Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion” (2006).

Also an accomplished artist, Wood has exhibited his artwork at Drury Lane Theatre in London and various other places all over the world. Called an accomplished and respectable artist by art critic Brian Sewell, he co-owns an art gallery in London called Scream, along with his sons Jamie and Tyrone. Wood is also an author and wrote “The Works” (1988), a short collection of autobiographical anecdotes, “Wood on Canvas: Every Picture Tells a Story” (1998), an art book, and “Ronnie” (2007), his autobiography.

As for his personal life, Wood has been outspoken about his battle with alcoholism. In June 2006, he reportedly entered rehab for a couple of weeks. In July 2008, he again shared a degree of notoriety after being discovered drinking with Ekaterina Ivanova, a young girl he met in a London club. That same month, he reportedly returned to rehab because of his addiction.

Wood is separated from his wife Jo, whom he married in 1985. He was previously married to ex-model Krissy Findlay (died in 2005) from 1971 to 1978. Wood has three sons, Jesse (mother: Krissy Findlay), Tyrone (mother: Jo) and Jamie (from a previous relationship), and a daughter named Leah (mother: Jo).

New Kid

Childhood and Family:

Ron Wood was born Ronald David Wood on June 1, 1947, in Hillingdon, Middlesex, England. Nicknamed New Kid, Woody, and Ronnie, he discovered music and art at an early age. By the time he was 10 years old, his drawings had been featured on the BBC program “Sketch Club,” and went on to win one of the show's main prizes a few years later.

The youngest of three boys, Ron attended the Ealing Art College, the same school attended by his older siblings Art and Ted, both of whom were graphic artists and musicians. It was Art that bought Ron his first record player. Young Ron picked up the washboard as his first instrument, and soon mastered it. He also learned to play the clarinet, harmonica, cornet, banjo, saxophone, trumpet and drums, but it was the guitar that held most of his attention.

Ron was married to his first wife, former model Krissy Findlay, from 1971 to 1978. They shared a son named Jesse. On January 2, 1985, he tied the knot with Jo Howard, with whom he has two children, Tyrone and Leah. Ron also has one more son named Jamie from a previous relationship. His wife Jo is also an ex-model and generated a line of organic cosmetics.

Ron's marriage entered a rocky run after he was allegedly spotted drinking with a young Kazakh-Russian girl named Ekaterina Ivanova in July 2008. Shortly thereafter, rumors he was going to leave his wife subsequently emerged. By October 2008, he moved out of the family home.

Stay With Me

Career:

9-year-old Ron Wood had his first taste performing live when he played the washboard for brother Ted Wood's band, Candy Bison Skiffle Group, at the Marlborough Cinema in Yiewsley High Street in 1957. He launched his professional music career seven years later by serving as a guitarist for the rhythm/blues band The Birds, in Yiewsley, West London. The group amassed a respectable following through their live performances and recorded several singles in the mid-1960s before calling it quits in 1967. In addition to playing the guitar, Wood also co-wrote or wrote almost half of the songs the group recorded.

Next, Wood played bass for the Jeff Beck Group, whose members also included the then-nameless vocalist Rod Stewart. He performed several tours with the group and released a pair of classic recordings in the late 1960s, namely “Truth” (1968) and “Beck-Ola” (1969). Despite high expectations for the band, Jeff Beck Group split up. Meanwhile, Wood also worked with another group called The Creation.

After leaving the Jeff Beck Group, Wood and Steward chose to stay close and in 1969 they started working with the remaining members of Small Faces (bassist Ronnie Lane, keyboardist Ian McLagan and drummer Kenney Jones). Along with former Bird Kim Gardner, they joined Wood's brother, Art Wood, in a group named Quiet Melon and recorded four songs and played a few shows in May 1969. Wood's collaboration with the Small Faces continued when he and Stewart decided to work full time with the group later that summer. They then changed their name to the Faces.

A few months later, the Faces released a debut album, “First Step,” with Wood co-writing the tracks “Shake, Shudder, Shiver,” “Around The Plynth,” “Flying,” “Nobody Knows” and solely writing “Pineapple and the Monkey.” He also played lead and rhythm guitars and harmonica and provided harmony vocals for the album. Although the album was considered a failure, the group soon emerged as a popular live act.

The Faces released their sophomore effort, “Long Player,” in 1971. Wood co-wrote one of the album's highlights titled “Had Me a Real Good Time.” It was followed by “A Nod Is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse” and “Ooh La La” in 1971 and April 1973, respectively. The first album spawned the group's single “Stay With Me,” which Wood co-wrote with long-time pal and band mate Stewart. The song peaked at No. 6 in Britain and made it to the Top 20 in the United States. Wood teamed up with band mate Ronnie Lane to write the title track “Ooh La La” for the latter album. He also sang lead vocals on the song. After recording four albums, the Faces disbanded in December 1975. Wood also contributed to Stewart's first few albums. He co-penned the classic songs “Every Picture Tells a Story” from Stewart's 1971 debut album of the same name, and “Gasoline Alley,” and three songs on the 1972 album “Never a Dull Moment.” In 1973, Wood performed at Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert. Later that same year, in December, he began working with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on the song “It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It),” which became the lead single of the Rolling Stones' 1974 album “It's Only Rock 'n Roll.”

However, it was not until 1974 that Wood finally kicked off his solo career by releasing the album “I've Got My Own Album to Do.” It peaked at No. 27 on the U.K.'s new Musical Express chart. Both Jagger and Richards contributed to this record. Wood continued to release three more solo projects throughout the 1970s, namely “Now Look” (1975), “Mahoney's Last Stand” (1976, with Ronnie Lane) and “Gimme Some Neck” (1979).

Thanks to his affiliation with Keith Richards, Wood was invited to join the Rolling Stones after guitarist Mick Taylori left the group in December 1974. He worked with the Stones on their album “Black and Blue,” which was released in 1976, and spent a time in 1975 touring with the group in North America. By February 1976, he had been officially added to the Rolling Stones line-up.

Specializing in playing slide guitar, lap steel and pedal steel guitar, Wood occasionally played the bass, notably on the single “Emotional Rescue” from the 1980 album of the same name, and received co-writing credit for a number of songs, including “Dance,” “Black Limousine,” “One Hit (to the Body)” and “Had It With You.”

After the platinum “Black and Blue,” Wood worked on the group's live album “Love You Live” (1977) and “Some Girls” (1978), which became Stones' best-selling record in the United States. He was reunited with the group in 1980 for the commercial hit “Emotional Rescue,” which became a chart-topper in the U.K. and the U.S., where it went double platinum. The follow-up, “Tattoo You” (1981), for which Wood played electric guitar and provided backup vocals, become a huge commercial success for the Stones. However, growing tension between Keith Richards and Mick Jagger forced the group to not tour from 1982 to 1988, but they did release the albums “Undercover” (1983) and “Dirty Work” (1986), both of which went platinum in the U.S.

Wood resumed his solo career by releasing “1234” in 1981 and “Live at the Ritz,” a collaboration with Bo Diddley, in 1988. About the same time, he also emerged as an avid painter. When Richards and Jagger reconciled in the late 1980s, Wood again dedicated his time to the Stones. The group released a comeback album in 1989 called “Steel Wheels,” which peaked at No. 3 on Billborad's 200 and No. 2 on the U.K. Top 75 Albums charts.

During the 1990s, Wood and the Rolling Stones launched two studio albums: “Voodoo Lounge” (1994) and “Bridges to Babylon” (1997), and four live albums: 1991's “Flashpoint,” 1995's “Stripped,” 1996's “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” and 1998's “No Security.” The Stones also hit the roads in 1990, 1994 to 1995, and 1997 to 1999. On his own, Wood recorded “Slide on This” in 1992. In support of the album, he toured Japan and North America. The follow-up concert album, “Slide on Live: Plugged in and Standing,” was released a year later in 1993. Also in 1993, he played guitar on “Unplugged...and Seated,” a 1993 successful live album released by Stewart. Wood. He then contributed to Bo Diddley's 1996 album “A Man Amongst Men,” playing guitar and slide guitar on songs like “I Can't Stand It” and “Hey Baby.”

Entering the new millennium, Wood continued to alternate between his solo career and work with the Rolling Stones. He released “Live and Eclectic” in 2000 and again as “Live at Electric Ladyland” two years later. He also launched “Not for Beginners” (2001). During that same period (2001-2001), Wood toured England and Ireland with his own group, The Ronnie Wood Band, whose members also included Slash and Andrea Corr. He went on to tour with the Stones from 2002 to 2003.

In 2005, Ron returned to the studio for the Stone's new album, “A Bigger Bang.” Released in September 2005, the album went gold and platinum in the U.K. and U.S., respectively. The year also found Wood set up the record company Wooden Records.

During a break from the Rolling Stones' “A Bigger Bang” world tour, Wood played guitar on three tracks for British soul artist Beverley Knight's album “Music City Soul,” which was released in 2007. In 2006, he released two solo albums: “Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion” and “Buried Alive: Live in Maryland” (2006), a collaboration with The New Barbarians. “The First Barbarians: Live from Kilburn” followed in 2007.

On April 1, 2008, the Stones launched the live album “Shine a Light.”

Awards:
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