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Keith Richards - December 18, 1943

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Date of Birth: December 18, 1943
Place of Birth: Dartford, England, U.K.
Sign: Sun in Sagittarius, Moon in Virgo
Education: Expelled from Dartford Technical School for truancy at fifteen; later attended art college in Sidcup, England
Relations: Wife: Patti Hansen; kids: Marlon and Angela (née Dandelion), with Anita Pallenberg; Theodora and Alexandra (with Hansen)

"To me, the main thing about living on this planet is to know who the hell you are and be real about it. That's the reason I'm still alive."

He's been idolized. He's been reviled. But through it all he's been Keith Richards. When he made a public service announcement urging the youth of the world to stay off drugs, comedians had a field day. More than one commented on how the kids couldn't do any more drugs, because Keith had already done them all. How much of a deterrent the "most elegantly wasted" human being on the planet can be is open to debate. What is clear is that Mr. Richards is a survivor. What he's been through would kill anyone with less hearty genes. He'd be the first one to say he's been blessed in many ways.

Born December 18, 1943, Richards grew up in the drab south London suburbs, eventually falling in love with the raw American rock 'n' roll. Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Chuck Berry moved an entire generation of young British rockers-to-be, including our hero. All Richards wanted was to play rock and roll. He would pose in front of the mirror and practice "getting down his moves," as he called them. When he was fifteen, his mother bought him his first guitar, and music became the most important thing.

He explored rock 'n' roll's blues roots, and had become crazy about R&B by the time he bumped into his Dartford, Kent schoolmate - a young fellow named Mike Jagger, who shared Richards' rabid interest in American Rhythm & Blues. By 1962 the two had formed a group with Brian Jones and a few others calling themselves the Rolling Stones, inspired by Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stones Blues." The Stones performed cover songs by Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Muddy, and Elmore James.

Richards' edgy guitar style set the band apart, and once he and Jagger started writing their own songs, they conquered the charts. One of their earliest collaborations was the classic "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Newsweek called the song's chord progression "five notes that shook the world." Jagger and Richards were the bad boys of rock and roll,