Keith Richards is reluctant to go back on tour with the Rolling Stones, according to Ronnie Wood. Speaking on Argentina’s Otro Día Perdido, Wood said his bandmate was tired of life on the road while he himself still wanted to play. The band has been working with producer Andrew Watt, and Wood’s account explains why new music has yet to bring a tour announcement.
Ronnie Wood described Keith Richards as “road-weary” when he was asked why the Rolling Stones had yet to make plans to play live together. On November 4, in a conversation on the Argentine television programme Otro Día Perdido, Wood put the emphasis on how his bandmate felt about touring. The guitarist’s account offers an explanation for the absence of dates at a moment when the band has been active in the studio.
Wood said he remained eager to play. That difference in appetite for the road helps explain why the members can talk about the next record while sounding less certain about concerts. He and Mick Jagger have taken part in some promotional work. A promotional appearance and a commitment to a run of shows make different demands on the musicians, particularly when the shows involve travelling between cities for weeks.
The description of Keith Richards came from somebody who has spent much of his working life playing alongside him. Wood spoke about weariness with the road, a phrase that can cover the time around a concert as well as the performance. Getting from one show to the next, going through rehearsals and doing the same work in different rooms are part of the commitment the band would have to make. Wood’s account concerned Richards’s position at the time of the interview.
Richards had already indicated that he felt differently about an appearance and a tour. He had left open the possibility of playing in a format that made less of a demand on travel. Those comments gave audiences a distinction worth retaining when they heard Wood’s account. A group can decide whether it wants to play a particular show without committing to the itinerary that has usually accompanied a Rolling Stones record.
The last full tour was the 2024 North American run behind Hackney Diamonds. The record and tour were closely linked, giving audiences an opportunity to hear the band after a new studio release and revisit the songs that have stayed in its set across decades. A further stretch of dates would be measured against that experience. For Keith Richards, as Wood described it, the prospect of repeating the travel is the point at issue.
Wood also spoke about producer Andrew Watt. His involvement gives the band a point of continuity in the studio even while its live plans remain open. A producer can help musicians finish work at a pace that suits the sessions. The calendar for a large tour is built around a different set of decisions, involving venues and rehearsals as well as the dates on which the members can be together.
There has been public discussion of the arthritis Keith Richards has spoken about in the past. Wood’s recent explanation concerned fatigue with touring. His choice of words gives readers a basis for understanding the conversation without making assumptions about how Richards feels physically or about his capacity to play. He described a musician who has done a great deal of travelling and is presently reluctant to do more of it.
The timing also throws some light on Wood’s own activity. He has continued to find occasions to play and has spoken of wanting to get out and perform while the band considers its plans. That decision is within his reach as an individual musician. The Rolling Stones require agreement among people whose feelings about the next stage of work are, in Wood’s account, different.
Jagger has expressed a desire to play live with the band again. His interest is another part of the situation Wood outlined. The members can share enthusiasm for the results of a studio session and still need to decide what kind of live commitment they are prepared to make. The lack of dates leaves the question open, including whether any future appearance would use the same format as the last tour.
For listeners following Keith Richards, the distinction comes back to the word Wood chose. He was speaking about the road, a way of working the Stones have kept up through changes in personnel and in the scale of their shows. The studio work with Watt has its own momentum. At the time of the Argentine interview, the musicians had yet to attach a concert schedule to it.
Wood’s comments leave a concrete picture of what the band is weighing. He would like to play, Richards has reservations about touring, and the work on new recordings has continued. The next development would come from a decision about what the members are willing to do together. Wood’s interview explains why that decision has taken longer to emerge than news of their work in the studio.
