Rolling Stones star Charlie Watts, 80, has been forced to pull out of the band's upcoming US tour after undergoing emergency surgery.
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The unspecified medical procedure has resulted in Charlie needing to recover at home, with the rock star revealing that he had been told that it would "take a while" for him to "get fully fit".
"For once my timing has been a little off," Charlie said in a statement.
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While the drummer rests, US musician Steve Jordan will fill in for him when the Stones resume their No Filter Tour in September.
Steve has worked with Keith Richards on his side project X-Pensive Winos and is also a member of the John Mayer Trio.
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Steve said that it was an "absolute honour and privilege" to be Charlie's understudy. "No-one will be happier than me to give up my seat on the drum-riser as soon as Charlie tells me he is good to go," he said.
Charlie Watts is being forced to pull out of Rolling Stones' upcoming US tour
Charlie's spokesman reassured fans that his procedure had been "completely successful" but that he had been told that he needed "proper rest and recuperation".
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The star said: "I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while.
"After all the fans' suffering caused by Covid I really do not want the many RS fans who have been holding tickets for this tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation."
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Charlie has been a member of Rolling Stones since January 1963. The band had only announced the relaunch of their tour last month, having postponed it due to the pandemic.
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Their first performance will be on 26 September in St. Louis. Their ongoing No Filter tour started in 2017, which saw them perform in 60 shows over four legs of the US and Europe.
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