Bill Wyman talks about leaving the Rolling Stones

Bill Wyman talks about leaving the Rolling Stones

The historic bassist of the Rolling Stones Bill Wyman he talked about his life after leaving the band and what he's doing now.

Wyman was officially a member of the Stones from 1962 to 1993, but now, with his old bandmates preparing to hit the road again, the 87-year-old has spoken to the Mirror about his surprise decision to leave the band.

“I left in 1991 but they didn't believe me,” he said. “They refused to accept that I was gone. It wasn't until 1993, when they started getting together to tour in 1994, that they started to realize it and say, “You're gone, right?” “I left two years ago,” I told him. They finally accepted it, so they say I left in 1993.”

Thus in the interview with the English tabloid Wyman explains his decision to leave the band: “I had enough. I was at what's called middle age and I was thinking, “I have other things I want to do.” I wanted to do archaeology, write books, have photography exhibitions and play charity cricket. I read about ancient cultures while traveling and also took photos. I simply had a whole other life I wanted to live.

The former Stones bassist has spent the last 30 years writing books, treasure hunting and collecting a variety of things, including stamps, music hall posters and Rupert Bear yearbooks (“Rupert Bear” was a comic strip that appeared in 1920s published in the Daily Express newspaper. Since 1936 the stories have been collected in books published annually).

“Growing up in war we didn't have gifts. But we had Rupert Bear yearbooks that we all shared. I read them to the little ones. And then I started collecting them because I was crazy about them. It was something that stuck with me. I have the whole series up to the present day and I have other things, Rupert gadgets like scarves, badges, stamps. I could fill a museum with them. Maybe someday…”

Wyman made an appearance on the Stones' 2023 album “Hackney Diamonds“putting his bass in the jam”Live By the Sword” where the deceased's drums are also located Charlie Watts and the participation of Elton John. It was his first appearance on a Stones recording since 1991.

Regarding this participation, Ronnie Wood, in an interview with the NME on the occasion of the album's release, said: “It was Andrew Watt's (the album's producer) idea. We had this track with Charlie's drums. None of us were there when Bill actually played him in the studio. But Andrew said he had a great time with him.”

Wyman's last live appearance was in 2012, when he joined the band for their 50th anniversary concerts at London's O2 Arena, but a year later he said he would never do so again, confirming he had “better things to do ”.

“The great thing was that my kids saw me on stage with the Stones,” he said. “They (the Rolling Stones) had asked me the previous December and I had to play with them for three days of rehearsals. I was under the impression that I was going to be really involved, but when the time came they only wanted me to do two songs, which was very disappointing.”

“I have always maintained that we cannot go back on things and that they can never be the same again. If you try to go back and have a relationship with someone you've already had a relationship with in the past, it doesn't work, and in music it's the same, it doesn't work. It was a unique case. Five minutes. OK, never again. No regrets, we are still great friends.”