The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards says arthritis in fingers has affected how he plays guitar

Stones guitarist said condition has opened up ‘new door’ for finding different techniques when playing instrument

Keith Richards’ love for playing the guitar has not changed despite struggling with arthritis in his fingers, the musician says.

The Rolling Stones guitarist opened up about his struggles with arthritis on Tuesday (10 October), saying in a new interview that he does not experience pain but has noticed his hands move differently compared to how they used to.

“Funnily enough, I’ve no doubt it has, but I don’t have any pain: it’s a sort of benign version,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I think if I’ve slowed down a little bit it’s probably due more to age.”

Richards, 79, who has been the lead guitarist for the band since they formed in 1962, said that he isn’t letting his arthritis stop him, but encourages him to find new techniques when playing the instrument.

“And also, I found that interesting, when I’m like, ‘I can’t quite do that any more,’ the guitar will show me there’s another way of doing this,” he explained. “Some finger will go one space different and there’s a whole new door just opened here.”

The legendary rock group, comprising guitarist Richards, 79, vocalist Jagger, 80, and bass guitarist Ronnie Wood, 76, are back with original material for the first time in 18 years.

The band will release their studio album Hackney Diamonds, on 20 October via Polydor records, which was recorded after Mick Jagger suggested the group make a record at the end of their 60th anniversary tour last year.

In The Independent’s four-star review of Hackney Diamonds, Mark Beaumont writes that the record is filled with a “glittering array of [The Stones’] creakier contemporaries”, with features from Elton John, one-time Stones bassist Bill Wyman, Stevie Wonder and also pop star Lady Gaga.

Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (Getty Images)

The band was helped by producer Andrew Watt, 32, who has made pop hits for Post Malone, Justin Beiber and Miley Cyrus, and assisted rock rebirths for Iggy Pop and Ozzy Osbourne.

“It’s a statement song worthy of rounding off a career this monumental, but also one that revives the gritty passions of 1969’s “Gimme Shelter”. It’s enough to convince you the old are still young,” writes Beaumont.

You can read The Independent’s review of Hackney Diamonds here.

Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger at the Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds launch event (PA Wire)

Elsewhere in the interview, Richards said that the album was fuelled by Jagger’s “angst”.

The BBC’s music correspondent Mark Savage asked the guitarist about the tangible sense of anger running throughout Hackney Diamonds, which transpires on tracks including “Angry”, “Bite My Head Off” and “Live by the Sword”.

Richards said that this theme is mainly the result of Jagger’s mood while writing for the new album.

“Mick writes the lyrics,” Richards explained. “He’s got some angst in him, and he probably thought ‘let’s use it’.”

He continued by noting the importance of singers wanting to sing the material for a record to succeed.

“Mick, given a song that he’s not really interested in can really make it bad,” Richards laughed. “That’s maybe one of the reasons it took 18 years – because Mick’s waves of enthusiasm come and go.”

“We’re having great fun doing this, and this is what we do,” Jagger said of the forthcoming album.

Hackney Diamonds will be released on 20 October 2023.