“I had to find an excuse”: Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman reveals how he once feigned illness to go back to England to watch a football match
Bill Wyman may have rocked stadiums with the Rolling Stones, but when it came to choosing between the stage and the (football) pitch, even rock ‘n’ roll had to take a backseat sometimes.
In a classic case of priorities, the former Stones bassist shares how he once went to hilarious lengths just to sneak back to England to watch Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup final.
“I had to find an excuse,” Wyman admits, recalling how he was rehearsing with the band in Amsterdam ahead of their tour.
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His solution? A conveniently aggravated wisdom tooth: “It was toothache,” the musician tells FourFourTwo. “I did have problems with my wisdom tooth, but I aggravated it so I could drive back to London and go to the match.”
“I couldn’t make the replay as we were already on the Urban Jungle tour,” he says, adding that the band had “worked it out” by then.
On the band’s own sporting interests, Wyman notes: “Mick [Jagger] and Charlie [Watts] were big cricket fans; Mick watches some international football, though he earned a reputation as a jinx. He was cheering on Brazil when they got humiliated 7-1 by Germany, he’s been to England games where they’ve lost and he was a USA fan when they lost against Ghana.”
Wyman, who contributed to the Stones’ latest album, 2023’s Hackney Diamonds, also reflects on his involvement in the project.
“They asked me to do a track [Live By The Sword] that was unfinished, with Charlie Watts playing on it. They thought it would be nice to reunite the original rhythm section,” he says.
“It was a hard one to play on, and busy – Elton [John] played the piano on it as well. Mick and the producer said my stuff was good and they were happy. I did two tracks and they’ll save one for another album.”
In other news, the Rolling Stones have reportedly scrapped their plans to tour across the UK and Europe later this year due to complications with suitable venues, travel and existing commitments.
The post “I had to find an excuse”: Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman reveals how he once feigned illness to go back to England to watch a football match appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
