At 82, Keith Richards Names the Only Musicians He Ever Respected

Keith Richards has spent sixty years telling people exactly what he thinks of them, and most of what he thinks is not kind. He called Sgt. Pepper a mishmash of rubbish. He said Bowie was all pose and nothing to do with music. He called Springsteen's music pretentious — a man he openly likes. He said that if Metallica took their inspiration from him, then somewhere along the line he'd made a serious mistake. He said the Grateful Dead were boring. He told Oasis to grow up and come back when they could hang. He said you could always see the join in a Led Zeppelin record. He hasn't spared his own band either. In his memoir he wrote that Mick Jagger had lost touch with reality. So the interesting question about Keith Richards has never been who he dislikes. That list is effectively everyone. The interesting question is who survived him. He's 82 now. Arthritis has changed the way he plays. The Stones cancelled a European stadium tour because he couldn't commit to four months on the road, and the new record came out this summer with no live dates behind it. Which makes this the right moment to go back through six decades of interviews, a memoir, and a great many unguarded moments, and find the short list. Five musicians Keith Richards actually respected. One of them punched him in the face and got credited anyway. One was in the band he spent his whole career dismantling in public. One died at 26 and left country music inside the Rolling Stones. One he calls, flatly, his god. And the name at the top isn't a blues legend or a guitar hero. It's someone Keith Richards made a promise about, in public — a promise he did not keep. Vinyl & Ruin covers the history of rock and roll — the people, the records, and the moments that changed the music. Subscribe for new documentaries every week. All quotes are drawn from published interviews, Richards' autobiography, and documented public statements. Where an account is disputed, the video says so.