Quote Of The Day By Keith Richards: 'He Brought Joy To Us; The Feeling For A 15-Year-Old Guitar Player That...'

Keith Richards is one of rock 'n' roll's great survivors. After co-founding the Rolling Stones with frontman Mick Jagger and guitarist Brian Jones while still a teenager, the band became one of the biggest names in the British Invasion. They achieved worldwide success with bluesy, riff-heaving classics like "Satisfaction" and "Sympathy for the Devil," which also pushed the bounds of acceptability with their subversive lyrics. Since then, Richards has enjoyed decades of being rock royalty, with the Rolling Stones remaining a huge live draw and two warmly received studio albums arriving in the 2020s.

Though in many ways the Stones were trailblazers, they have always been happy to wear their influences on their sleeve. They were inspired by the blues and early rock 'n' roll as pioneered by 1950s rockers like Chuck Berry, an influence that has persisted in their music. The Stones' latest album, 2026's "Foreign Tongues," even features a cover of the Berry song "Beautiful Delilah." As a fellow guitarist, Berry is especially important to Richards, who has frequently praised the influential rock elder — as he does in today's quote of the day.

"He brought joy to us; the feeling for a 15-year-old guitar player that there was more to life than seemed possible."

Our quote of the day comes from a social media post Keith Richards made on Facebook in 2017, in which he reminisced about Chuck Berry, who had died on March 18 that year at the age of 90.

Like many rock 'n' roll fans of his generation, Richards became obsessed with Berry's guitar playing as a teenager and began to emulate it as he found his sound as a guitarist, and remained a fan thereafter. "With the exuberance, he brought a casual ease and a rhythm that makes bits of your body move you didn't know you had," Richards explained. "In essence, he was a revelation. I ain't 15 no more but the joy remains." Richards was always clear about the debt he owed to Berry, and the two collaborated several times.

Chuck Berry's skills as a guitarist meant more than just technical ability to guitarists of Keith Richards' generation. Berry's music had a deep emotional meaning that would ultimately shape Richards' own life for more than seven decades.

For Richards, rock 'n' roll had the power to allow kids of his generation to dream about the world and its possibilities, transporting them far beyond the prosaic surroundings they were raised in. Richards was from a relatively humble background: his father was a factory worker. But his mother and grandfather instilled a love of music in him, which became his outlet. His love of blues was his point of connection with Mick Jagger, who would become Richard's songwriting partner throughout his life.

Richards is now considered rock royalty, and is famous for a hedonistic lifestyle that came into the open following a legendary 1967 drug bust. But the truth is that the rock 'n' roll dream comes from a place of relative innocence, of allowing young listeners of all backgrounds the chance to imagine themselves onstage and believe that anything is possible. For those with kids or grandkids just beginning to explore rock music, it's well worth remembering.

"I tended to listen to my body just before it screamed for help. I mean, I wasn't far from the end of the runway before I screamed for help. But you tend to slow down if you want to keep going; you pace yourself."

"I stick to the old ways, as my dad would have said. I've seen records go from being made on two-track tapes stuck to the wall, to suddenly eight tracks, then 16, 24, then digital and it hasn't really helped the music at all."

"Personally, I think the world would be better off without the damn phone. AI is killing me, you know. Do I fear for the future of music? I fear for the future of everything."

"Mick and I joust with each other all the time. From my end it's never been a fight. Mick's a control freak — it's necessary for him to believe he's Numero Uno, so most of the time I go along with it — unless I think he's making a really wrong decision affecting the Stones. Maybe we enjoy jousting with each other."

"What I love about stage work is that sort of cycle of energy and enthusiasm that goes around. The better part of human nature is usually displayed. I mean, I know we've had one or two bad ones ... But basically there's something to be said for it, because you come off stage feeling great, 'cos you've turned on all these people."

"The songs grow as you play them; the older they are, the more magic there is in them. It's never dull. We're born to have fun, you see! We can't help it."