Keith Richards has cut back on alcohol after becoming "fed up with it".
The 74-year-old guitarist scaled back on the booze around a year ago and while he still treats himself to "a glass of wine occasionally, and a beer", he hasn’t missed drinking before the band’s shows.
He said: "It’s been about a year now. I pulled the plug on it. I got fed up with it."
When asked if it was an adjustment, he replied: "You can call it that , yeah. But I don’t notice any difference really – except for I don’t drink. I wasn’t feeling [right]. I’ve done it. I didn’t want that anymore.
"It was time to quit. Just like all the other stuff."
The Rolling Stones rocker’s fellow bandmate Ronnie Wood – who ditched booze in 2010 after years of substance abuse struggles – admits Keith is "much more mellow" since cutting back on his alcohol intake.
He said: "He’s a pleasure to work with. Much more mellow.
"He’s open to more ideas, whereas before I’d kind of grit my teeth and go, ‘He’s gonna give me some s**t for saying this.’ Now, he’ll say, ‘That’s cool, man.’
"It just wasn’t working anymore, you know. I think the Keith that we used to know and love had this cutoff point where if he had one more, he’d go over the top and he’d be nasty.
"The cutoff point became shorter and shorter, you know, and he realised that."
And Ronnie, 71, believes he quit booze at the right time after a recent cancer scare and the birth of his twins, Alice and Gracie, in 2016, admitting his life is "now so much better" since axing alcohol.
Speaking in a joint interview with Keith in Rolling Stone magazine, he added: "I was lucky to get on the wagon when I did and was ready for all the stuff that came at me, cancer and all that.
"Luckily it was all in one place and I had it removed. I got my life again – I got a second chance and my little girls and my whole life now is so much better.
"I think Keith is seeing that kind of thing as well. And then he went on to the beers for a while, he cut down slowly, and now, you know, good luck to him. If he’s gonna keep it up, I’ll be there, full support."
Keith Richards cuts back on booze
