Rolling Stones Update
Back on the Smoking Ban Defiance Super Highway:
The United Kingdom, Canada, Scotland, Switzerland.
4/10/2008
By Dave Synyard It’s been said that cockroaches will be one of the few living creatures to survive a nuclear war. However, not too far behind would be Keith Richards, a man whose lifestyle and, more specifically, his surviving of it, continues to shock many people, including doctors the world over. Lately, Richards’ body (naturally after he has passed away) has become number one on many doctors’ hit lists for donation to medical science, so they can examine his incredibly tough immune system. Considering he spent a lot of time in the ’70s doing heroin, as well as a plethora of other drugs, and still continues to live the rock’n’roll lifestyle (i.e., smoking like he’s the Marlboro Man), his survival has been credited to a high tolerance for toxic pollutants. Even Richards is convinced he beat Hepatitis C by just letting his body take care of it. “Doctors all over the world want my body when it finally goes,” said Richards. “Apparently, I do have an incredible immune system. I had Hepatitis C and cured it myself just by being me. They [the doctors] want it so they can study it and figure out how to make other people much better. I mean, I eat everything wrong. I shove terrible things inside me.” While the last part of that statement could be taken out of context, there’s little argument that Richards has embraced hard-living for most of his life yet escaped without serious consequences, making him a potential gift to medical science. Read
Richards Finds Smoking Ban A Drag Rolling Stones rocker Keith Richards has lambasted the British government for introducing a smoking ban - branding it "political bulls****." March 7, 2008 The rebellious guitarist has repeatedly flouted the smoking ban - which came into effect in the U.K. last July 2007 - and famously lit up on stage in front of 20,000 fans at the O2 Arena in London last August. But despite being bombarded with criticism for his lawbreaking, the musician believes the ban is just a phase - comparing it to the prohibition of alcohol in the U.S. from 1920 until 1933. He says, "It's a bit of a drag because you've got to freeze your balls off to light a cigarette. You've got to go outside. It's draconian, social, politically correct bulls**t. "They'll get over it. It's like prohibition, they tried to stop booze once. Ha! Look what happened. It ruined America." The 64-year-old hellraiser has no intention of curbing his drug-taking ways either - even after having to undergo cranial surgery when he fell out of a tree in Fiji during a drugs binge in 2006. He adds, "I smoke my head off. I smoke weed all the damn time." ReadKeith smokes cotton wool cigaretteTimes of India - India
The 'The Rolling Stones' star lit up in defiance of the smoking ban, but later told fans his cigarette was full of cotton wool. ...
Smoking Stones leave O2 fuming
August 22, 2007
The Rolling Stones left anti-smoking groups fuming last night, after they defied the smoking ban and lit up on stage during their gig at the O2 arena, London.
Aged rockers, Keith Richards and Ronnie Woods were the culprits, impressing fans who cheered at their on stage rebellion.
Rolling Stones
Ronnie Woods causing trouble...
Stewards at the 20,000 fans gig were sent into a flap, patrolling the crowd and warning revellers who followed suit that they would be ejected.
An audience member at the concert said: 'It was a great rock'n'roll moment.'
'Keith looked around nonchalantly, lit up a fag and had it dangling from his mouth as he played a solo.'
'He didn't seem to care and smoked the fag for at least five minutes.'
'People around me started saying, 'Well if he can do it, why can't we?' But the stewards warned them they would be turfed out?'
Greenwich Council say they plan to make an example of the arena's owners AEG, who now face a possible £ 2,500 fine.
A spokesman for Anti-smoking group ASH lambasted Richards, saying: 'Unless Keith Richards is going to claim that smoking is an integral part of his performance, he has no defence.'
It's not the first time Richards has dodged punishment for smoking on stage, after he flicked buts into the crowd in Scotland's Hampton Park last year. Glasgow Council did fine him either.
An O2 spokesman said: 'A band member appeared to have a cigarette on stage. We're sure it was an oversight and are grateful for the co-operation.
The Stones were kicking off the first UK leg of their A Bigger Bang tour. It was the first time they performed indoors in the UK since 2003. Read
Keef escapes fine for lighting up, but Stones will keep puffing on stage August 22, 2007 Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will continue to smoke on stage during Rolling Stones gigs in the UK despite reminders from authorities that it is now illegal. Band insiders were responding to warnings from Greenwich Council that the two guitarists could face fines if they persist in lighting up on stage, as happened during a gig at the O2 arena last night. Richards smoked throughout a rendition of You Got the Silver – despite frantic warnings from the venue's staff. He was joined by Ronnie Wood, who was cheered by the 20,000 strong crowd when he, too, defied the ban. "Ronnie and Keith have been smoking on stage for the last three decades and they're not going to stop for the next two," a source close to the band told Times Online. "Of course they're going to have a fag - it's what they do. "You might say that Keith and Ronnie lighting up while they swap licks is part of the Stones performance." The O2 was today warned that it could face a £2,500 fine if the Rolling Stones persisted in smoking during their remaining two gigs at the venue – tomorrow and Sunday. Greenwich Council told the venue today that it had an obligation to enforce the legislation with a fine and potential prosecution if the ban is flouted. Richards appeared from backstage – his cigarette already lit – about a third of the way through the set when he came on to sing two numbers while Sir Mick Jagger was taking a break. Having a delivered a wistful rendition of You Got the Silver - which includes the line 'Hey baby – what's that in your eyes?', he then proceeded to puff his way through Wanna Hold You, joined by Wood. A statement from Greenwich Council today said: "We have reminded the O2 of their obligation to enforce the smoking ban and are satisfied with the assurances they have provided that this will not recur," adding that it had not received any complaints from the public. A spokeswoman for AEG, which runs the O2 arena, said: "We are sure it was an oversight and are grateful for the band's co-operation." O2 claimed that the cigarette was extinguished "almost faster than the message to put it out got to stage," but witnesses said there was no evidence Richards was at all ruffled during the opening leg of the band's Bigger Bang tour. "The pair of them looked every bit the rock 'n' roll legends that they are," one fan said. The Stones have already been fined £100 for smoking on stage during a gig at Hampden Park in Scotland during the Forty Licks tour, and other musicians, including Pete Doherty, have also defied the ban. Read
Jagger boy's licence to light up 24.08.07
By Alex Stephens, Evening Standard Mick Jagger's son has become the first man in London to be allowed to smoke legally in a pub. James Jagger, 21, has been given a special licence to light up when he appears in a play at the King's Head theatre in Islington. It is thought to be the first issued in the city since the introduction of the ban on smoking indoors. The licence was granted after environmental health officers accepted that smoking was "integral" to the plot of the pair of black comedies he is starring in. Ironically it comes in the week that his father's bandmates, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, flouted the ban as the Rolling Stones performed at the O2. Bosses at the venue face a fine of several thousand pounds after the guitarists each enjoyed an illegal cigarette mid-concert on Tuesday. Last night Richards was smoking on stage again, making it more likely that Greenwich council will act. Jagger junior is set to play a Vietnam veteran and a Texan "village idiot" in a pair of one-act black comedies at the Islington theatre which is part of a pub. A source at the King's Head theatre said: "The law has been a bit of a headache for some producers because you have to prove that smoking is vital to the integrity of the production. But with Vietnam as the backdrop it was obvious smoking was necessary. "You can't have a group of macho guys puffing away on novelty chalk cigarettes - it would just look ridiculous. "We didn't have any problems convincing Islington council that our case was genuine." Casualties of the ban have included The Last Confession, starring David Suchet, at the Theatre Royal in Haymarket. Producers of the Vatican-set thriller, about the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978, were refused a licence to smoke on stage by Westminster council when the ban came into force on 1 July. Audiences will be able to see James, a real-life smoker, perform from Tuesday next week until 23 September. He will star alongside former EastEnder Shane Richie in two dramas by James McLure. In Lone Star, set in a redneck Texan town, Jagger plays a smalltown simpleton; and in Private Wars he plays a poetic East Coast aristocrat recovering from injury in an army hospital. An insider said: "When he was first cast we thought he'd be like his mum and dad - not much cop at acting. But apparently he is fantastic. He has blown the producers away." It is Jagger's first professional theatre role and only his second adult acting job. He has just finished filming a small part in Knife Edge, a classic English horror starring Dame Joan Plowright, Nathalie Press and Hugh Bonneville.
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