Watch Keith Richards Documentary Being A Rolling Stone

As part of the BBC documentary My Life as a Rolling Stone, Keith Richards shared how he became an ultimate star and be a member of the legendary band.

Each episode of the documentary series focuses on each member of the band. On Richards take, he said:

“I could kid myself that I was obviously born to play rock and roll, and be an enormous star–no, I dreamt of that–that’s not the same thing as knowing, is it? Do we call that destiny? What do we call it? I call it love.”

The rock star revealed that probably his late grandfather was his biggest influence in music. If it’s not because of him, he wouldn’t have learned how to play a guitar. He recalled:

“I was getting an urge for some country music and some blues. I was starting to get interested, very little that you could get in England at the time. I think when rock and roll came along, it sort of fused the whole thing together. At that age, it was devastating. That’s it, that’s where you want to go.

“It was an exciting time to be a musician at that age, you know. It was great.”

Recalling the time of their early success, he remembered:

“18-year-old white kids saying we’re going to be the best blues band in London… and within a matter of months, women are trying to tear your clothes off and they’re jumping off of balconies is not quite what I had in mind. It was mayhem.”

Two years before the band’s highest point, they consider themselves as a nobody. Until one day they felt very proud of who they became, he added:

“We felt there’s a gift coming to America. I mean, suddenly to be transplanted from some wannabe, it was endlessly fascinating, America to Dartford–we grew into it and music grew into us and America changed rapidly in ’64, ’65.”

Undeniably blues is what they’re meant for, but with the attention that The Beatles gained, they knew that somehow they need to become pop. He admitted:

“Without The Beatles, The Stones would never have been here. The reason the Stones existed or made records was because the record industry couldn’t afford to lose another Beatles.”

He also recalled how it feels to be on the recording studio. Richards explained:

“Recording is, and still is to me, the most mysterious art. It’s a kid’s dream come true. I mean, you constantly live those moments of like, I’ve got a guitar strapped up my studio, too. It’s a surreal sensation.

“I have been quite happy to make all these records totally anonymously but then, that’s not possible, you know. You got to get out there and put yourself out and I learned how to do that and I quite enjoyed it.”

Talking about being good at his craft, he recalled:

“I didn’t wanna be a guitar player. I wanna make noise and if it took using a guitar to do it, I became a pretty good one in some respects. I’m saying I use the guitar really as a percussion instrument. It’s a rhythm thing for me.

“I’ve always said to myself, ‘Solos come and go, a riff lasts forever.'”

Richards ended by living the lines:

“Music is a resilient thing and sometimes, I think God is the only thing we’ve got that we can trust.”

Check out the full interview below.