Longtime collaborator Steve Jordan is set to fill in.
The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts will miss the band’s upcoming No Filter Tour. After undergoing a procedure for an undisclosed medical issue, Watts said in a statement that he is unlikely to be joining the band for their rescheduled U.S. shows. The Stones’ longtime collaborator Steve Jordan is set to fill in for Watts so the tour can continue as planned.
“Charlie has had a procedure which was completed successfully, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation,” a spokesman for Watts said in a statement. “With rehearsals starting in the next couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say that no one saw this coming.”
Watts himself added, “For once my timing has been a little off. 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 cause by COVID I really do not want the many fans who have been holding tickets for this Tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me.
“It is an absolute honor and a privilege to be Charlie’s understudy and I am looking forward to rehearsing with Mick, Keith, and Ronnie,” Jordan said. “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.”
The Rolling Stones U.S. No Filter Tour was postponed last year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Two weeks ago, the band finally announced the rescheduled shows. The trek kicks off on September 26 at The Dome in St. Louis, MO. Tickets are on sale now at RollingStones.com/Tour.