Keith Richards Reveal That Paul McCartney Wrote To Them After ‘Cover Band’ Comment

Last year, Paul McCartney described the Rolling Stones as a “blues cover band,” now Keith Richards revealed that the former Beatles wrote to them after the comment.

The war of words started when the New Yorker quoted McCartney saying:

“I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are.

“I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.”

To which Mick Jagger responded to during a Stones show in Los Angeles by telling the crowd:

“There’s so many celebrities here tonight. Megan Fox is here, she’s lovely. Leonardo DiCaprio. Lady Gaga. Kirk Douglas. Paul McCartney is here, he’s going to help us – he’s going to join us in a blues cover later.”

Recently, in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Richards shared that he:

“got a note from Paul about that, saying, ‘I was taken totally out of context.’ He said, ‘That’s what I thought when I first heard them.’”

Richards added that:

“Paul and I know each other pretty well, and when I first read it, I said, ‘There’s been a lot of deleting and editing going on here.’ And the next day I got a message from Paul saying, ‘If you’ve read this shit, it’s all out of context, believe me, boys.’”

The guitarist described McCartney as a “great guy,” adding:

“I mean… look at the songs he’s written.”

In the same interview, Richards confirmed Steve Jordan would take up the studio works on the Stones recordings and tours following the death of drummer Charlie Watts saying:

“We do have a lot of stuff of Charlie Watts still in the can. We were halfway through making an album when he died.

“Of course, if we want to carry on recording, we’re gonna need drums, and it’s gonna be Steve Jordan.”

Richards recalled feeling uneasy about continuing the tour without Watts when he had fallen ill adding:

“I was [like], ‘Oh, I cannot do this without Charlie.’ But Charlie said to me, ‘You can do it with Steve. He can take my seat anytime.’ And he talked me into it. … Goddamn, I loved that man.”

Speaking about the Stones’ upcoming 60th-anniversary tour, Richards stated:

“Who can wrap their head around 60 fucking years? It all seems impossible, that it’s been that long.”