Bill Wyman admits it wasn’t exactly easygoing quitting the Rolling Stones over 30 years ago. The legendary bassist, who just celebrated his 86th birthday, recalled to Classic Rock that his bandmates were far from thrilled with him jumping ship: “It was quite stressful and they didn’t want me to leave. So they became bitchy. Instead of being nice and saying: ‘Great 30 years. Cheers mate,’ Mick (Jagger) would say the most absurd, stupid things, with that spoilt attitude he had. He’d say things like: ‘Oh well, if anybody has to play bass I’ll do it. It can’t be that hard’ — and Keith (Richards) said: ‘No one leaves this band unless they’re in a wooden box.'”
Wyman went on to say, “Anyway, they left the door open for me for two years. Charlie (Watts) and Mick would phone and say: ‘You’re not really leaving are you? Have you re-thought it?’ Then when it came time for them to do the ’94/’95 (Voodoo Lounge) tour they had to make a final decision. Mick and Charlie came over and spent the evening with me, trying to talk me into staying. Have I had any regrets about not going back? None whatsoever.”
He shed light on his relationship with the Stones today: “Keith still sends me scented candles at Christmas. We all send each other birthday and Christmas presents. It’s still a family thing, social not business, and it works really well. It’s like distant relatives — you’ve got an Auntie Elsie and an Uncle Fred who are really charming but you don’t want to see them all the time.”
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