Keith Richards
Keith Richards not only shares with Mick Jagger the distinction of founding the Rolling Stones, but he also may well be the only other rocker out there with an equally distinctive and recognizable face. Born in Dartford, Kent in 1943, Richards excelled early on as a guitar player - and not so much in his formal schooling. In 1962, he left Sidcup Art College, and moved in with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The trio would go on to found "The Rollin' Stones" that same year. The early blues-inspired rock sounds of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry helped define Richards' guitar playing, who in turn set the foundation for what would become the Stones' signature sound. As with the Beatles' Lennon/McCartney collaboration, the majority of the Stones' songwriting has been the result of the Jagger/Richards partnership. The sound and the output have resulted in one of the most successful and creative bands of all time, with songs ranging from the lusty 1965 "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," through the psychedelic concept album components of Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967), to the blues of "Midnight Rambler" (1969). Nor has the band's output diminished with time - successful albums have continued through the seventies (It's Only Rock 'n Roll, Some Girls), eighties (Undercover, Steel Wheels), and nineties (Voodoo Lounge, Bridges to Babylon). In later years Richards has also released solo material, starting with 1988's Talk Is Cheap. Throughout, he has cultivated a drug-driven, bad boy of rock n' roll image - which has somehow not managed to interfere with his creative output, or his performance on stage.
