Leading article: Rock on, Wood

Although he increasingly resembles one of the prehistoric sacrificial victims found in a distant bog, Ronnie Wood commands respect.

After 36 years of excess as a Rolling Stone, decades of alcohol and narcotic abuse, seven trips to rehab, two failed marriages and scandalous walkouts with teenage Russian cocktail waitresses, he has cleaned up his act. Now 64, sober and articulate, he won the Music Personality of the Year prize at the 2011 Sony Awards for his radio show, despite never having worked as a radio DJ before last year.

Now he's set to become a TV star, when The Ronnie Wood Show airs on Sky Arts in February. This late career hike is to be welcomed. We hope to see him evolve into a chat-show host, then a political interviewer, then perhaps one of the presenters of Radio 4's Today programme.

Mr Wood owns a yacht called Never Too Late. He seems to be the walking embodiment of those hopeful words.