David Wolff – PatrickGetty Images Rock ‘n roll has lost one of its most unassuming giants. Charlie Watts, longtime drummer of the Rolling Stones who infused their stadium-size sound with a jazzy swing, has died at the age of 80. A cause of death has not been revealed. Watts manned the drum kit for the legendary act for more than 50 years, building with his beats rock music itself. In an era defined by the flamboyance of his lead man, Mick Jagger, Watts projected a cool and calm; refinement. “I loved playing with Keith and the band—I still do—but I wasn’t interested in being a pop idol sitting there with girls screaming,” he famously wrote in his 2003 book, According to the Stones. “It’s not the world I come from. It’s not what I wanted to be, and I still think it’s silly.” Watts joined the group in 1963, once the founding members could finally afford the then-established session player. “We starved ourselves to pay for him!” Keith Richards wrote in his own book, Life (2010). “Literally. We went shopl… Click below to read the full story from Esquire
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Charlie Watts’ Life in Photos
