Sir Mick Jagger dedicated the Rolling Stones’ gig at BST Hyde Park to Charlie Watts.
The legendary drummer died in August, aged 80, and the band’s frontman paid tribute to him during the latest gig of their ‘Sixty’ tour in London.
After watching some poignant videos screening behind the stage, Jagger – who stars in the group alongside Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood – said: “Watching those videos of Charlie before we came on … you know we played with him for 60 years … We really really miss him. So we’re dedicating this show to Charlie.”
The legendary band performed 19 of their biggest tracks at American Express presents BST Hyde Park, where 65,000 fans came to watch them perform.
The Stones entertained the crowd with some of their best-known records, including ‘Tumbling Dice’, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ and ‘Paint It Black’.
Jagger also paid a glowing tribute to his former bandmate shortly after his death, saying he brought a “jazz touch” to the chart-topping group.
The 78-year-old star said last year: “Charlie brought another sensibility, the jazz touch. And he didn’t play very heavy. Sometimes, if I got him mad enough, he would. That was the only way I could get him to play really heavy – to get him mad.”
Jagger explained that Charlie “could do quite subtle cymbal work in some places”.
He added: “Then he could play off my [vocal] riffs with the audience. If you’re a singer, you have a relationship with a drummer which is all about the dance, the accent you’re doing physically as well as vocally.”