Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has died at age 80. The news was confirmed in a statement from his management company, which divulged no further details. Watts was famous for his potent beat and unflappable style, featured on all 26 Rolling Stones studio albums and numerous live albums.

Earlier this month, Watts pulled out of the upcoming Rolling Stones U.S. tour, after undergoing an unspecified medical procedure.

Watts was born in London in 1941, and he began playing drums at age 14. Inspired and influenced by jazz recordings, Watts's early drum education involved playing along to recordings by Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.

Trained as a graphic designer at what is now the University of Westminster, Watts worked in graphic design for ad agencies while playing drums for jazz and R&B groups in and around London. In 1963, after meeting Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and others a year earlier, Watts agreed to join the Rolling Stones as the band's drummer. Besides Jagger and Richards, Watts is the only other band member to play on every single Rolling Stones album, and until this year, Watts had played every show since joining the group in 1963.

Despite that impressive track record, Watts was known to be not terribly fond of touring. And in stark contrast to stereotypes associated with rock stars, Watts was unfalteringly faithful to his wife, Shirley Ann Shepherd, whom he married in 1964.

Always providing the steady backbeat for the Rolling Stones, Watts himself was rarely in the spotlight, and that seemed to suit him just fine as he tended to prefer staying at home, listening to jazz and watching cricket.

In 2006, however, Martin Scorsese filmed two Rolling Stones concerts in New York City, and at one show, Scorsese kept a camera trained on Watts all night — the result of which is this capture of Watts's efforts on "Jumpin' Jack Flash." It's one for the ages.

The Current's Luke Taylor contributed to this report.

External Link

The Rolling Stones - official site