Keith Richard's life – 24 hour prison stint, £407m worth and near-fatal brain injury

The Rolling Stones icon Keith Richards is one of the biggest rock stars on the planet.

From inspiring a generation with hit songs including Start Me Up and Can’t Get No Satisfaction, to collaborating with some of the biggest stars in the world, Keith is the epitome of a music legend.

However, his life away from the limelight has also seen the star suffer tragic loss and a terrifying health battle – as well as Hollywood fame and collaborations with members of his family.

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On the star’s 79th birthday (December 18), Daily Star takes a closer look inside Keith Richard’s life.

Music legend

Keith Richards is known across the world as one of the most influential and legendary guitarists of all time, and one part of iconic rock group The Rolling Stones.

For more than six decades the band have delighted generations of fans with their hits including Paint It Black, Lets Spend The Night Together, Start Me Up and Gimme Shelter.

With an estimated 200 million in record sales, the group has since won three Grammy awards and were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame in 1989.

Keith has also released a number of solo records, including The Harder They Come and studio albums such as 2015’s Crosseyed Heart, as well as collaborating with artists such as John Lennon, Eric Clapton and Aretha Franklin.

It is no surprise then that he was ranked fourth in the top 100 best guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

He is also reported to have an estimated net-worth of an eye-watering £407m ($500m).

Prison sentence

Keith and fellow band mate Mick Jagger were arrested in 1967 following a police raid on Redlands, an estate owned by Keith in Sussex.

The stars were spending time at the estate during one February weekend, when police raided the property – with Keith sentenced to one year imprisonment for allowing drugs to be smoked on his property, and due to serve his time at Wormwood Scrubs prison.

Meanwhile, Mick was sentenced to three months imprisonment for drug possession and was sent to Brixton prison.

However, both stars were released on bail the day after their sentences, pending appeals – having only spent 24 hours in prison each.

Speaking about his very short stint in prison to Apple Music, Keith described it as “weird” and during the Rolling Stones documentary, Crossfire Hurricaine, revealed that he only found out he was being released when a fellow inmate heard the news on the radio.

Keith’s sentence was later overturned due to lack of evidence, and Mick was given a conditional discharge.

Tragic loss

From 1967 to 1979, Keith was in a relationship with Italian-born actress Anita Pallenberg, who had formerly been in a relationship with The Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones.

Together, Keith and Anita welcomed three children – Marlon, Angela and Tara.

However, Tara died at the age of two months old on June 6, 1976 from sudden infant death syndrome.

In his autobiography, Life, Keith explains that Tara died while he was on tour with The Rolling Stones, saying: “Leaving a newborn infant is something I can’t forgive myself for.”

James Fox, who co-wrote the book with Keith, also added: “The first time we talked about that, Keith couldn’t get out more than five words. Then we realised we had to go back to it.

“He told me that he thought about it every week.”

Keith later returned to the stage the night of Tara’s death, with Hollywood Life reporting that the star was criticised for his decision to perform.

However, speaking about Tara’s death on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Keith explained that he had a feeling that he needed to go onstage.

“It was such a shock at the time, especially.

“I’m getting a phone call in Paris, and this happened in Geneva, and I thought, I’m going to go mad… unless I do this show tonight. If I just sit here with this idea, I don’t know what I’ll do.

“Maybe it was just a sense of self-preservation… it was a rough, rough thing. I had a feeling this is a show, and I must go on stage. I’ll worry and grieve and think about this all after the show.”

Model wife

Following his split from Anita, Keith met model Patti Hansen, who has posed for magazines such as Seventeen, Vogue, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour.

Speaking about Patti in his autobiography, Life, Keith said after spotting her at Studio 54 in 1979: “I didn’t see her again for a while, but the vision stayed in my mind.”

She later attended his 36th birthday party, and the two finally formally met, with the couple marrying on December 18, 1983.

Richards wrote: “There was life before Patti and life after.”

Keith and Patti later welcomed two children, called Theodora and Alexandra.

The music legend also has five grandchildren – three from son Marlon and two from daughter Angela.

Health battle

In 2006, Keith faced a serious health battle after he fell 16ft from a coconut tree in Fiji.

Although it was reported at the time that he had only suffered a mild concussion, Keith was later on a boat ride when he developed a headache and subsequently suffered two seizures in his sleep, with wife Patti calling for medical attention.

Further tests from medical professionals soon discovered that he had what was known as a subdural haematoma – a blood clot on the brain.

At the time, a spokesperson for the band released a statement, saying: “Keith was under observation in Auckland after a fall in Fiji and was feeling well since being examined by doctors last week.

“But after complaining of headaches, doctors thought it prudent to move ahead with a small operation to relieve the pressure. The operation was a complete success, with Keith up and chatting with his family today.”

It is not the only health battle the star has faced in his life however, as the guitarist previously broke three ribs and punctured a lung after falling from a ladder at his home library in 1998.

Eight years earlier in 1990, he also contracted an infection after puncturing his finger on a guitar string.

Hollywood fame

Although Keith is known as a music legend, the star also had a stint in one of Hollywood’s biggest film franchises – The Pirates of the Caribbean.

He starred in no less than three films in the series – At World’s End, On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales – as Captain Teague, the father of Johnny Depp’s character, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Speaking to The Express, Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that Johnny Depp had based Captain Jack Sparrow’s mannerisms on the Rolling Stones guitarist, saying: “Keith was a buddy of his and he used to come over all the time.”

He added: “He based it on how he walked and how he talked.”

Second career

Keith has also collaborated with his family on creative projects, including releasing a children’s book in 2014.

He wrote Gus and Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar, with his daughter Theodora, with the book reported to have been inspired by Keith’s grandfather, Theodore Augustus Dupree.

Theodore has toured Britain with his jazz big band, Gus Dupree and His Boys, which had inspired Keith’s own interest in playing the guitar.

It is also reported that Theodora contributed illustrations to the book.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk