Keith Richards got so drunk while on tour with the Rolling Stones that he was flown to another country while still in bed.
The guitarist, 80, who fell into heroin abuse at the height of the band’s fame – but has now given up drugs, drink and smoking – was in such a deep sleep after a drug binge that the group’s roadies were forced to take him on a private jet while he was still resting.
Celebrity publicist Alan Edwards recounted the incident in his new memoir ‘I Was There’: “The tour manager couldn’t wake Keith up in a hotel room to fly to the next country. So the roadies pulled out the bed, with Keith sleeping in her, from the hotel, they loaded her onto the plane and then took her out when the plane landed again Keith woke up in another hotel room in another country without having moved. There were none of the normal restrictions regarding. when or where the plane left: the Stones were traveling on their own 747 plane.”
Keith celebrated his 80th birthday in December with a much more civilized party.
He went on Christmas safari to South Africa with his wife Patti Hansen, whom he married in 1983, to celebrate his octogenarian on December 18.
Along with an image in which he is seen smiling with a jacket in the colors of the South African flag, he published: “Thank you for your congratulations! Thank you for your birthday wishes. Merry Christmas from South Africa.”
A source told The Sun ahead of the father-of-five’s trip: “Keith is not scared of wild animals and loves seeing them in the wild. His dream is to spend a holiday with his entire family at a luxury resort in Africa and live together.” “A once-in-a-lifetime experience. He turns 80 in December and hopes to get out early to enjoy the sun and spend Christmas with his family.”
